Peace operations continue to be one of the most visible areas of activity of the United Nations, one which the international organization can have a critical impact. Consider, for instance, that peacekeeping operations are growing. By the fall of 2005, the 18 operations around the world employed 83,000 troops, police, and civilian personnel – a more-or-less fivefold increase in the field personnel since 2000. By the fall of 2006, the deployment number had reached an all-time high of 93,000 men and women. At the same time, peacekeeping operations are becoming more complex and comprehensive.
UN peacekeeping operations face several challenges. It has been difficult to make available the right capabilities to implement the mandates in a timely manner. UN deployments also suffer from being ad hoc and not taking advantage of considerable accumulated UN experience. Most critically, the leading Western powers are reluctant to take a leading role in expanding UN operations. The current U.S. ambivalence toward the UN is perhaps the most crippling factor.
Here are several recommendations for peacekeeping to thrive in the future:
- Remember that peacekeeping is less expensive than unilateral military action. The estimated total cost of peacekeeping operations from July 1 2007 to June 30 2008 is $7 billion. In comparison, the estimated war-related spending for Iraq has risen from $53 billion in 2003 to $133 billion in 2007.
- U.S. foreign policy must radically change from its current unilateralism to the exercise of leadership within multilateral constraints.
- Without a very strong financial and political commitment from member states, the UN cannot address and redress on its own the systemic shortcomings of peacekeeping operations.
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Jean-Marc Coicaud heads the UN University Office at the United Nations in New York. He is the author of Beyond the National Interest: The Future of UN Peacekeeping and Multilateralism in an Era of U.S. Primacy (Washington, D.C., USIP Press, 20007) among other publications. He has held a variety of positions, with the French diplomatic service, the European Parliament, various universities, and the UN, in Europe, the United States, and Asia. Formerly part of the speechwriting team of UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, he is a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org). He can be reached at: jeanmarc@ony.unu.edu
