UN Security Council Resolution 2378 (2017) and the progressive peacekeeping agenda: a commentary

UN Security Council Resolution 2378, which was unanimously adopted on September 20, 2017, is a notable resolution, bringing together, while attempting to drive forward, various ideas and reform proposals that have emerged in recent years in connection with United Nations peacekeeping operations. The fact that it was proposed by Ethiopia, deliberated in Addis Ababa, and adopted during Ethiopia’s presidency of the Security Council are testaments to the central role that this state has played, and continues to play, in UN peacekeeping, perhaps most notably through its position as the leading troop-contributing country to such operations. In this respect, it is notable that the resolution “[u]nderscor[es] the importance of peacekeeping as the most effective tools [sic] available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security” while also “[r]eaffirming [the Security Council’s] resolve to strengthen the central role of the United Nations in peacekeeping and to ensure the effective functioning of the collective security system established by the Charter of the United Nations.”