This essay is intended to analyze the current state of UN peace operations by looking at the Report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO). The essay argues that the key messages of the HIPPO Report, primacy of politics and stronger partnership, even if less innovative, should be regarded as important reflections of contemporary international peace operations in the 21st century, the age of the War on Terror. In the end UN peace operations need to find their roles in international society by carefully examining their possible functions in reality.