The United Nations is only what its members want it to be. If the members want a political strategy, there will be one. The trend we have seen recently is for the Security Council, on behalf of all the members, to check off the “peacekeeping” box when there is nothing else, when there is no political strategy. It is a strategy by default, in a way.
So can we be surprised when missions like UNAMID or MINURCA find themselves in extremely hostile situations and are unable to have any effect on the ground? If there is no genuine support for a clear political strategy from the major countries, including Canada, none of the parties in the conflict are going to respect United Nations missions. Support for a political strategy has to be visible.