Lester B. Pearson and the Birth of UN Peacekeeping

In 1956, the Suez Crisis threatened to spiral into a much larger international conflict.

Canadian diplomat Lester B. Pearson proposed a peacekeeping force that could separate the combatants and help stabilise the situation.

The proposal proved highly influential and is widely associated with the birth of modern United Nations peacekeeping.

Pearson later received the Nobel Peace Prize, and his role in the crisis became one of the great diplomatic stories of the twentieth century.

For International Lester Day, it is a perfect example of a Lester connected to an event of genuine global significance.