Of course, there is no substitute for a political solution. So, we have become more and more interested in conflict prevention. In point of fact, preventing conflicts should always have been at the top of our agenda. Article 1 of the United Nations Charter calls for effective, collective measures to prevent and remove threats to the peace. But for most of the Organization's history, there has been too little emphasis on preventive action.
Effective prevention is certainly a good investment.
But, as with many good investments, it is not always obviously worthwhile at the time when you need to make it. Moreover, even when you get it right, it is difficult to demonstrate the return on your investment, because it is essentially a negative return. The conflicts that do happen are there for all to see. You can always argue that they were never going to happen anyway. The deployment of peacekeeping troops is, in itself, a form of prevention, but generally it is used only to prevent recurrence of conflict, where it has already happened.