The article is based on a questionnaire mail study of participants in the United Nations peace-keeping forces in Gaza and in the Congo. It is focussed on the problem of closeness vs. distance to the phenomenon of peace-keeping. By and large the studies show that the participants wanted more closeness to the local inhabitants, whereas the way the UNPKF was organized, was based on considerable distance. There was also a demand for a much higher level of insight in the conflict and the operation than had been given during the briefings. Questions about the attitude to the concrete conflicts reveal relatively standard Western attitudes and prejudices both in the Middle East and the Congo theaters. Finally, the possibility of some type of peace-keeping force based on more closeness and involvement is discussed, concluding that under the present political conditions this would hardly be feasible.
Originally in Papers (24) from University of Oslo, Chair in Conflict and Peace Research, 28 pp, https://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2026081909761. Also in: Johan Galtung, ed (1976) Peace, War and Defence. Essays in Peace Research II. Copenhagen: Ejlers, 1976, 264–281.
