The Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) celebrated their twentieth anniversary in the Sinai Desert in 2002. During the past twenty years there has hardly been a shot fired in anger between Egypt and Israel, the antagonists the MFO is charged with keeping at peace. The silence along the international border in the Sinai has prompted a serious review of the MFO's continued relevance by the US Department of Defense. The MFO position, strongly supported by the governments of Israel and Egypt, is that the MFO is highly relevant and still necessary in the Sinai. This thesis seeks answers to this contradiction by reviewing the history of peacekeeping in the Sinai Desert. The three peacekeeping forces and the military, political, and diplomatic action that surrounds them is a reminder that peacekeepers do not make peace, nations make peace. The peacekeeping forces that have served in the Sinai have been highly effective. However, the root problem that brought them there in 1956 remains unresolved. Until the resolution of the Palestinian problem in Gaza and the West Bank, peacekeepers will be a necessity in the Sinai Desert.

ADA 416934 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)