United Nations Peacekeeping

The Effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping

"The United Nations is so radically defective that it is incapable of establishing world order; truth be told, not only has the UN failed [to achieve its peacekeeping objectives], but it was always bound Ð'... to fail" (Simioni 12). At first sight, it would seem that this is part of just one of the many current debates about the effectiveness of the UN as the main arbitrator of the international community. In fact, it represents one of the view points expressed in August 1947, soon after the failure of the first and only round of negotiations concerning the establishment of a transnational army under direct UN command (DEA 33). Since then, the controversy about the role of the United Nations in maintaining global security has remained an ever-current issue, with prominent political personalities contesting the reliability, and even the underlying principles of such an organization. In spite of the never-diminishing criticism, the UN remains a key player on the global arena, the only truly representative spokesperson for an increasingly complex assembly of peace-seeking nations. Moreover, ever since its establishment in 1945, the United Nations has achieved notable successes in promoting world peace, by delivering efficient peacekeeping and peacemaking operations, by diversifying its conflict-prevention measures, and by maintaining an equidistant and impartial position towards combatant parties. These standards have been considered essential in assessing the effectiveness of the UN throughout its existence. The neutral stance towards world issues was highly valued by the founders of the organization. Subsequently, former Secretary-General U Thant stated, "the basis of the UN is the pledge by sovereign states to co-operateÐ'... in [efficient] joint missions to alleviate conflicts worldwideÐ'... in a responsible and [fair] manner" (qtd. in Schoenberg xi). In later years the trend to broaden peacekeeping initiatives represented Kofi Annan's main strategy of further enhancing the organization's ability to cope with new geopolitical developments. Therefore, in evaluating UN successes it is essential to consider both quantitative and qualitative evidence supporting the three above-mentioned criteria.

From peacekeeping to peacemaking

Over the years, the UN has moved from traditional, observer-based peacekeeping to more complex and efficient "peacemaking" operations. In the very beginning of its preamble, the UN Charter ratified by the first General Assembly in San Francisco clearly affirms:

We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, Ð'... [and] to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, Ð'... have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims (Charter qtd. in DEA 1-5).

However resolute, the mere assertion of peace as the main goal of the organization was not enough. In the tense political situation created after WWII, with the Communist Bloc and the Capitalist West becoming increasingly abrupt in their bilateral international approaches, it was time for the newly established organization to get involved. As the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union soured, the UN became the key stability factor between the two major poles of power. In fact, "[k]eeping the Cold War (1950-1989) from turning hot can be considered the UN's single biggest job" (Morton 21). Since then the UN has been involved in numerous large-scale operations. Nevertheless, considering the four decades of rising tensions, with increasing amounts of "military machinery and weapons [being] stockpiled for a third world war, which many people believed was inevitable" (Chasmer et al. 280), controlling the outcome of the Cold War remains a great achievement, accomplished not by use of military force, but of diplomatic ingenuity.

In the early years of the United Nations, the Security Council had some successes in dealing with disputes in which the Cold War antagonists were not directly involved. "Peacekeeping began with the formation of small groups of observers to monitor compliance with UN resolutions" (DFAIT 11). The credibility acquired by the United Nations from these missions, as well as from the equilibrium maintained between the Warsaw Pact countries and the Western World, is indisputable: while only 50 members had initially founded the organization, current membership figures have already reached 189 member states ("un.org"). However, since the end of the Cold War Ð'- in order to efficiently accomplish its primordial objective Ð'- the UN has gotten involved in an increasing number of ethnic, religious and inter-

country tensions that have flared up in many regions of the world. Figure 1 , corroborated from data provided by the Department of Public Information of the UN, clearly shows the staggering increase in the number of peacekeeping missions undertaken by the Security Council. Actually, out of a total of 53 missions, only 13 were started during the first 40 years of United Nations existence; the remaining 40 missions have all been launched since 1988, within a time span of less than 15 years (50 Years 23). Consequently, the effectiveness of the UN in seeking world peace stands in its ability to motivate member states to provide well-trained troops and civilian personnel, who can then intervene in trouble-spots around the globe. To date, over 750,000 military and civilian personnel from 111 countries have taken part in peacekeeping missions, with 15 operations currently under way, involving 14,500 peacekeepers, as of June 15, 2001 (Facts, sec. 3) (see Figure 2).

Looking beyond the numbers, in recent years the UN abandoned traditional peacekeeping, which typically involves basic military tasks, such as monitoring ceasefires, separating hostile forces, and maintaining buffer zones. Instead, it has developed more complex peacemaking operations, "which involve simultaneous political, military and humanitarian activities, Ð'... built on the experience gained by more conventional task forces" (50 Years 24). Such missions are far more efficient, because they address the problem with an in-depth approach, including, but not limited to, civilian police, human rights monitors, help for dislocated refugees, as well as basic infrastructure and logistic support. Considered a great success of modern UN peacemaking, the operations in the former Yugoslav Republic involved Ð'- at their peak, in 1993 Ð'- a total deployment of over 63,000 military and civilian intervention personnel. In spite of complex