OWING TO THE INTRACTABLE NATURE AND COMPLEXITY OF THE MIDDLE EAST DISPUTE, IT IS E SSENTIAL THAT A VARIETY OF METHODS, OPTIONS, AND PROCEDURES BE AVAILABLE IN EFFORTS TO FIND A PEACEFUL SOLUTION. ALTHOUGH THE PRESENT PEACEKEEPING MACHINERY IS NOT ALL THAT IT COULD BE,IT IS CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT THAT ALL SIDES IN THE MIDDLE EAST DISPUTE DEVELOPE GREATER CONFIDENCE IN IT AND GIVES SUPPORT.
Although the United Nations has undertaken more than a dozen peacekeeping operations, and Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim has affirmed that "peacekeeping constituted a principal, and perhaps the most vital, function of the UN," there is no agreement on the definition of the political and jurisdical scope, or any uniform procedural basis, for such peacekeeping operations. As a matter of fact, the term peacekeeping does not even appear in the UN Charter.Most commentators, however, draw a sharp distinction between peacekeeping operations undertaken pursuant to chapter VI of the Charter on pacific settlement of disputes and enforcement action authorized by the Security Council under chapter VII. As one Swedish diplomat explained, peacekeeping operations are essentially voluntary, undertaken at the request or with the consent of the country in whose territory an operation is to take place, and do not impose any obligation on member states in regard to personnel, equipment or logistics.
