Effectiveness Of Un Peacekeeping example essay topic

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... to fail" (Simi oni 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-operate... in [efficient] joint missions to alleviate conflicts worldwide... in a responsible and [fair] manner" (qt d. 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, ... [and] to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, ... have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims (Charter qt d. 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] ee ping 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" (Charmer 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" (DFA IT 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 - in order to efficiently accomplish its primordial objective - 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, ... 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 - at their peak, in 1993 - a total deployment of over 63,000 military and civilian intervention personnel. In spite of complex ethnic and religious issues, the UN forces have managed to achieve their ultimate goal: ending the conflict. Furthermore, although peace was restored, UN post-war support operations are continuing, the peacemaking mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (see Figure 3) having been established in 1995, after the end of the actual hostilities. Overall, the numerous peacekeeping missions, together with the improved scope of operations, represent UN's active involvement in reducing the impact of and even eradicating conflicts.

Consequently, beginning with the objectives stated in the Charter, and ending with its commitment to promoting a conflict-free world, the UN has continuously strive d to improve the effectiveness of its peacekeeping. Conflict prevention Conflict prevention and post-conflict measures are becoming increasingly important within United Nations' peacekeeping policies, thus precluding potential armed disputes before they become major issues. Within the larger concept of peace building, decolonization, electoral assistance and disarmament are all cornerstones of UN's non-military peacekeeping agenda. In fact, at the time of UN's creation in 1945, more than a third of the global land area was under some type of foreign domination. However, decolonization did not become a major issue until 1960, when the General Assembly - realizing the increasing conflict potential - decided to make it a priority. Consequently, the demands of the peoples from various non-self-governing territories to achieve self-determination led to a proclamation stating that: Comparing the current situation with the world map of the 1940's, the differences become obvious: there are only 17 dependent territories left ("un. org"), two of which - Western Sahara and East Timor (see Figures 5, 6) - are already under UN supervision, pending total sovereignty.

Figure 4 also gives an insight into the contribution of the UN to the decolonization process, which - given the current world map - has proven quite effective. Over 38% of the peacekeeping and peacemaking operations so far have been in Africa, the continent with the highest rate of colonial dependency. Countries such as Congo, Angola, and Namibia partly owe their independence to the persuasive efforts of the United Nations, efforts that have also included extensive peacekeeping and financial assistance. Currently, Western Sahara - the only dependent territory left in Africa - is not only benefiting from UN's decolonization strategy, but also from an electoral assistance program managing a soon-to-come sovereignty referendum.

Nevertheless, the United Nations' offer of electoral assistance is not limited to countries seeking independence. In practice, the objectives of United Nations electoral assistance are two-fold: (i) to assist Member States in their efforts to hold credible and legitimate democratic elections in accordance with internationally recognised criteria... ; (ii) to contribute to building the recipient country's institutional capacity to organize democratic elections that are genuine and periodic and have the full confidence of the contending parties and the electorate ("un. org") Because of the major potential for internal unrest, which fraudulent elections might cause even in the developed countries, UN's assistance is available to any requesting government, thus creating an active conflict prevention method. Nevertheless, in former conflict areas, electoral assistance is generally insufficient to reduce the potential for further conflicts. Other key steps provided by the UN are disarmament, mediation support for reaching mutually acceptable agreements, as well as emergency socio-economic measures to reduce the problem-basis for military confrontations. All of these are part of a newly developed concept, first mentioned by former Secretary General Boutrous Boutrous-G hali: " [P] is a wider concept than peacekeeping, because it seeks to deal with the root causes of conflict, to address not only the immediate, but also the medium- and longer-term challenges for insuring peace in troubled areas" ("un. org"). Consequently, by implementing measures other than strictly military in scope, the UN is proactively preventing internal clashes, and international conflicts.

Thus, UN policies and recent peace-related activities have tried to effectively minimize military intervention, favouring preventive and peaceful measures for the involved rival parties. An equitable approach to peacekeeping A well-balanced Security Council creates the premises for United Nations' equidistant position towards belligerent parties, ensuring the impartiality of international intervention. During the San Francisco conference, the Security Council was the first UN body that the General Assembly decided to create, in order to promote the foremost goal of the organization - world peace and security. The council is composed of 15 member states, five of which are permanent members (United Kingdom, France, United States, Russia, and China). Thus, it is precisely the composition of the Security Council that represents the main guarantee of United Nations' balanced approach towards conflicts and military intervention: not only do nine out of the 15 countries on the council have to agree on every specific action, but the five super-powers also have the right to veto any decision that they consider inappropriate. The legacy of the decade-long Cold War further emphasized the differences in the views and interests of these countries.

Therefore, the fact that the most powerful and economically rich nations are permanent members ensures that the balance will never inappropriately incline towards any one side. In addition to military intervention, the Security Council can use two other key instruments in order to peacefully intervene in war-like situations. Firstly, the members of the council can decide to impose sanctions on belligerent countries, to insure that they are no longer able to trade weapons and supplies that might help their war effort. A prime example of sanctions imposed by the UN is the 1991-embargo on Iraqi international trade. Due to Sad am Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, and his refusal to give up part of his weapon arsenal, the embargo is still strongly enforced.

However, in order to help the civilians, the UN has agreed to a "Food for Oil" Program, allowing Iraq to trade limited quantities of oil in exchange for food, medicine, and other subsistence supplies. Secondly, while trade sanctions are effective in dealing with relentless sovereign countries, the Security Council also coordinates the activity of the International War Crimes Tribunal, which can prosecute war criminals in spite of the immunity offered by their political position. Thus, the UN is able to actively deter heads of state and other important officials from instigating to grave human rights violations and other types of abuses against the civilian population ("War Crimes"). Therefore, the structure and the prerogatives of the Security Council give the United Nations not only its highly valued impartiality - an impartiality that is vital to the process of peacekeeping - but also the ability to minimize the costs for the innocent bystanders of armed conflicts. Overall, the United Nations represent a mechanism that is highly proficient in promoting world peace, by deploying efficient peacekeeping and peacemaking operations, by implementing diverse conflict-prevention measures, and by maintaining an impartial position towards combatant parties. In fact, the UN is currently the only international organization that has the mandate of virtually the entire international community to work towards global peace and security.