Rapidly changing trends in international peacekeeping are likely to pose a serious challenge to regional authorities intending to establish an emergency force for dealing with conflict in Southern Africa, recent research has noted. In a paper entitled, "Towards a Common Southern African Peacekeeping System", South African-based political analyst, Cedric de Coning, argued that the fast pace of developments in the peacekeeping field over the last decade had "complicated" efforts by policy-makers and researchers to arrive at a common understanding of peacekeeping.