Geopolitical tensions and a funding crisis are jeopardizing peacekeeping missions, especially those under the auspices of the United Nations, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) warned on Monday.
Fewer than 79,000 international personnel were deployed in international peacekeeping operations by the end of 2025, the lowest number in at least 25 years, the institute said in a report.
“If things continue in this way, we could see a rapid weakening of multilateral conflict management and the near-total marginalization of institutions like the United Nations, due to a perfect storm of funding, political and geographical factors,” Jair van der Lijn, director of the organization. SIPRI of Peace operations and conflict management plan, it said in a statement.
“The result is likely to be more conflict, and these conflicts are likely to have a greater impact on civilians as nations abandon long-established norms.”
A total of 58 peacekeeping operations were implemented in 2025, falling below 60 for the first time since 2016.
About three-quarters of the deployed personnel were serving in five countries – the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lebanon.
