UN's Multidimensional Approach to the Israel–Arab Conflict, 1967–1982

This book examines how the United Nations Secretariat built a coordinated regional peacekeeping architecture across the Israel–Arab conflict between 1967 and 1982, tracing its operational achievements and the structural limits that ultimately constrained them.

Drawing on previously classified UN archives, the book offers the first integrated institutional history of four UN operations — UNTSO, UNEF II, UNDOF, and UNIFIL — treated not as isolated deployments but as components of a deliberately managed regional system. It introduces the concept of Inter-Operation Collaboration (IOC), demonstrating that mission integration was practised decades before it was formalised in UN doctrine. Central to the narrative is General Ensio Siilasvuo, the Finnish officer who served successively as force commander, ceasefire negotiator at Kilometre 101, and Chief Coordinator of UN Peacekeeping in the Middle East, and whose career embodies the blend of military and diplomatic innovation that defined the era. The book also recovers the critical role of the Office of Special Political Affairs as the Secretariat's institutional engine.

The book will be of interest to scholars of UN peacekeeping, Middle Eastern history, and international organisations, as well as to practitioners and policymakers engaged with contemporary questions of multilateral conflict management.

Diego Salama is a Research Affiliate at Leiden University and Managing Editor of Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. He is also Head of Partnerships and Communications at the United Nations University in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the institutional history of UN peacekeeping, multilateral diplomacy, and the politics of international organisations. His recent publications include a study of UN peace operations in a collected volume (2023) and an article in Strategic Assessment (2026).