Chapter 2 focuses on the role of UN peacekeeping operations and how they have evolved through the years. You will learn definitions of and understand the relationships between conflict prevention, peace-making, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and peace enforcement. You will also learn that this relationship is not linear but that these activities often take place simultaneously within the same mission area. By the end of this chapter, you will understand the significant differences between traditional peacekeeping and contemporary or multidimensional peacekeeping and the changing paradigm of conflict which drove this development. The chapter explores the core functions of a multidimensional UN peacekeeping operation in contrast to traditional peacekeeping. It also examines the critical range of peacebuilding activities mandated by the Security Council for these contemporary peacekeeping operations.