The ancient Chinese curse was: ‘May you live in interesting times!’ To some extent all ‘times’ have their interest, and yet to those involved in international law and international relations, the current times are more ‘interesting’ than usual. A number of tensions seem to be coming to the surface at the same time, and a resolution of one may have unintended consequences in other areas, even exacerbating the tensions there. The subject matter of this book looks at the tensions in one of those areas, the application of human rights treaties to United Nations peace operations. Yet the author realises that even here, the subject is too vast for one publication. He therefore has to narrow his field to examine the application as law of two of the best known treaties, one universal and one regional. In doing so, he accepts that there are other issues raised which cannot be dealt with within the scope of this book. This book is not, therefore, and does not seek to be, the definitive answer to all the issues surrounding United Nations peace operations or the relationship between those operations and international law in general. The general context in which this book is set is itself complex. The original concept of having forces made available to the United Nations under Article 43 of the Charter never saw the light of day. As a result, command and control of United Nations forces is never straightforward, and has become less so as the nature of United Nations peace operations has changed over the years from ‘traditional peacekeeping’ in a comparatively benign environment, through ‘peace support operations’, often in an environment where the consent of all factions could not be taken for granted, to ‘peace enforcement’, where operations are often conducted in the midst of ongoing hostilities.