UN Peacekeeping Efforts Face Collapse Amid Geopolitical and Financial Crises, SIPRI Report States

Kathmandu. A report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on May 25 states that United Nations peacekeeping (peacekeeping) missions are on the verge of collapse due to the 'full storm' created by geopolitical reasons.

Jair van der Lijn, Director of SIPRI's Peace Operations and Conflict Management Program, said, 'If the situation continues in this direction, the combined effect of financial, political, and geopolitical factors could seriously weaken multilateral conflict management, and institutions like the United Nations could be pushed almost completely to the sidelines.'

He added, 'As a result, conflicts are likely to escalate further, and as states abandon long-established norms, the impact of those conflicts will be even more severe on ordinary citizens.'

The report attributes the decline in peacekeeping capacity primarily to a crisis in financial resources.

As of July 2025, the UN peacekeeping program was facing a financial deficit of approximately 2 billion US dollars, which is more than 35 percent of the total budget for 2024-25. The lack of 'predictable financial resources' has forced many missions to significantly reduce the number of deployed security personnel and staff.

This financial crisis has arisen due to major donor nations failing to fulfill their financial commitments on time or in full. Currently, the top 10 nations providing the most troops and security personnel to multilateral peacekeeping operations are all from the Global South, with Uganda, Nepal, Bangladesh, and India at the forefront.

The report also mentions that within the UN Security Council, the 'hard stances and threats of veto' by permanent member states have further complicated the process of renewing peacekeeping mission mandates.

In 2025, amidst continuous ceasefire violations by the Israeli army in Lebanon, the United States and Israel pressured for the dissolution of the 'United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon' operating there. Ultimately, as a compromise, the Security Council decided to renew the mission's term for the last time until December 2026.

The report warns that due to increasing political disagreements within established international institutions, the world is leaning towards unilateral or bilateral security arrangements that prioritize the interests of specific nations over collective security.

The report notes that regional organizations have also been unable to reliably fill the vacuum left by the United Nations.

Claudia Pfeiffer Cruz, a senior researcher at SIPRI's Peace Operations and Conflict Management Program, said, 'Regional organizations lack many of the capacities necessary for successful and comprehensive peacebuilding. They are also plagued by financial shortages and the inability to build consensus, similar to the United Nations.'

She added, 'As UN-led conflict management weakens, it is creating a significant void that alternative models have not been able to fill.'

However, amidst the bleak situation, Dr. Cruz believes that the complete collapse of multilateral conflict management is not inevitable. According to her, there is still theoretical support for UN peacekeeping efforts at a global level.

She emphasized that to sustain such efforts, member states must provide regular financial support beyond mere speeches and commitments, and ensure the necessary political environment for effective multilateral efforts to succeed.

On one hand, international peacekeeping operations are struggling with a financial deficit, while on the other hand, another report released by SIPRI in April showed that global military spending has reached a new record high.

According to that report, global military spending increased to 2.887 trillion US dollars in 2025. This is the 11th consecutive year of increase. This growth is attributed to widespread re-militarization and geopolitical tensions, with the United States, China, and Russia alone accounting for more than half of this expenditure.

The nearly 3 trillion dollars spent in 2025 is 2.9 percent higher in real terms than the previous year. With this, the share of military spending in global gross domestic product (GDP) has reached 2.5 percent, the highest level since 2009.