“It’s not as simple as that,” said Kiera. “What could be more simple? Peacekeepers are to keep the peace, non?” “Keep the peace, yes. Not make the peace. Our mandate presupposes a peace agreement is in place and the cessation of hostilities as a pre-condition of deployment. It’s down to the signatories to the agreement to maintain it.” “But if you are not going to use your weapons to keep the peace, why have peacekeepers at all?” “We’re here at the request of both sides – not imposed upon them – as a neutral party to observe the peace process they already negotiated and help create the conditions for lasting peace.” “But what if the peace process breaks down? You sit and watch?” “Honest answer? We get stuck in the middle. We’ve got no authority to intervene or take sides.” “But they intervened in Somalia.” “And look what happened there. Asking Western nations to contribute troops for a UN intervention force in Africa is nigh on impossible after what happened in Mogadishu. We’re lucky to have what we’ve got.”