What does the topic mean?

Resolved: That the United States should establish a foreign policy

substantially increasing its support of United Nations peacekeeping
operations.
Whats a United Nations peacekeeping operation?
What does it mean to increase support for UNPKOs?
Whats topical?
Whats not topical?
How

does the UN work?

In 1945, the UN Charter was drawn up.
Today there are 191 countries in the UN.
There are six principal parts of the UN: the General Assembly, the
Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship
Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat.
The General Assembly. All member states are in the General Assembly.
The Security Council & the veto power. The UN Charter gives the
Security Council primary responsibility for maintaining international
peace and security. There are 15 Council members. Five are permanent
members. 10 are elected by the General Assembly for 2-year terms.
Decisions require 9 yes votes. 5 permanent members have veto power.

Who decides to send a UN peacekeeping operation and who is in

charge?
The United Nations Security Council creates and defines peacekeeping
missions. It does this by providing the mission with a mandate, which is
a description of the missions tasks.
To establish a peacekeeping mission or change the mandate or strength
of an existing mission, nine of the 15 states on the Security Council must
vote in favor of it. It can also be vetoed.
The Secretary-General directs and manages peacekeeping operations
and reports to the Council on their progress.
Military officers in charge of the mission are employed directly by the
UN, and are often on loan from their countries.
The troops, sometimes called blue helmets, participate under terms
negotiated by their countries with the UN and remain under the
authority of their government. They are paid by their governments,
although the UN reimburses at a fixed rate.
Civilian police are paid by the UN.
A brief history of UN peacekeeping
Peacekeeping isnt in the UN Charter.

Where does peacekeeping come from? Article 39 of Chapter 7 of the UN

Charter says that the Security Council can determine the existence of a
threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, and it can
make recommendations or take meansures in accordance with Article 41
or Article 42 (allows UN military forces) to maintain or restore
international peace and security.
1956 was the first time the UNEF mission was the UNs response to
the Suez Canal crisis. Suez Crisis happened when Great Britain and
France invaded Egypt and the Suez Canal while Israel invaded the Sinai
Peninsula. The UNEF force supervised a cease-fire.
One of the issues restraining peacekeeping and UN intervention was the
issue of national sovereignty. This began to stop being a barrier to PK
in the 1980s. As a reaction to slaughter in Cambodia by the Khmer
Rouge, in 1988 the UN passed a resolution accepting the principle of
intervention within a sovereign state by NGOs on humanitarian grounds.
Before that, it wasnt clear that the UN could intervene in a sovereign
state.
-In 1991, in response to Iraqs attack on the Kurds, the Security Council
passed Resolution 688 that demanded that Iraq let the UN intervene.
688 claimed that humanitarian goals were linked to international peace
and security and gave humanitarian goals more weight than
nonintervention.
-In 1992, Resolution 794 said that the magnitude of the humanitarian
threat in Somalia was a threat to international peace, justifying
UNISOM.
-Of the 29 civil wars that ended between 1960-1998, the UN intervened
in 12.
-Of the 35 civil wars underway in 1990, the UN intervened in 10.

Whats involved with UN PKOs?

UN peacekeeping operations are administered by the UN Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
Peacekeeping can involve police, military, and/or civilians.
UN peacekeeping is funded in one or more of three ways: the regular
UN budget, voluntary contributions, and special assessments.
Basic Functions of UN Peacekeeping
All of these are conducted by the UNDPKO, as so are technically peacekeeping
operations. But, that said, there are at least three different functions of UN
troops:
Peacemaking/Peacebuilding. This does not refer to the use of military
force. It occurs before a cease-fire has been reached for the purpose of
getting a settlement. This is the UN as a mediator. Administered by the
Department of Political Affairs.

Peacekeeping. Occurs after a ceasefire has already been reached. All

parties consent to have the UN bring in a military force to monitor or
enforce the cease-fire. This is also known as traditional, or firstgeneration peacekeeping.
Peace enforcement. Your basic military intervention, this does not
require the consent of the parties involved, and is not purely defensive.
Also known as expanded, or second-generation peacekeeping.

So, you might encounter this term: PSO or Peace Support Operations. This is
an umbrella term that tries to make sense of the ways troops and civilian
forces can get involved in trying to make, keep, and enforce peace.
Basic Characteristics of UN Peacekeeping
This list reflects what are commonly understood to be characteristics of UN
peacekeeping missions. Exceptions are noted and briefly explained. It is
interesting to note that these characteristics are more guidelines than rules,
as reflected in the large numbers of exceptions.
Consent of the parties not always. If giving aid, such as in the case
of UNPROFOR-Bosnia, this was deemed not to be necessary. Also, in
Somalia, deemed not necessary.
Impartiality not always. For example, the UNIKOM mission (IraqKuwait) was certainly not said to be impartial.
The non-use of force not always. For example, the ONUC mission in
the Congo and UNPROFOR.
A clear mandate. Ha. Definitely not always. Peacekeeping Operations
are given authority by the Security Council, and the mandates are often
less than clear. Again, UNPROFOR is an example of this.
A UN multinational deployment more closely followed than most,
but again, there are exceptions. The 1991 Gulf War, while not technically
a UN peacekeeping operation, received a mandate from the security
council and troops were under the command of national governments.
The willingness of the UNs member states in the 1994 UNAMIR
mission to Rwanda, member states didnt ante up.
The non-interference in the sovereignty of states not really an
issue anymore since the ONUC-Congo mission.
Challenges to UN Peacekeeping (a partial list)
The framework of PKOs
The limits to peacekeeping
The ripeness for intervention
Juxtaposing military and civilian operations
Impacts on contributing countries
Impact on the recipients of peacekeeping
Preparation of the peacekeepers
3

UN Attempts at Internal Reform of Peacekeeping Operations

In 1992, then-Secretary General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali published a
report titled An Agenda For Peace. This report tried to change the
direction of peacekeeping, but was largely unsuccessful.
In 2000, the Panel on UN Peace Operations chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi
issued whats usually called the Brahimi Report. It makes 20 major
recommendations, very few of which have been implemented.
US involvement with UN peacekeeping a history
*The US pays 30% of PK costs for the UN. In the 1st 45 years of the UN, the
UN spent 23% of its budget on PK. Now, it spends about 77% of its budget on
PK.
* Presidential Decision Directive 25, signed in 1994, sets out conditions for US
participation in UN PKOs (post-Somalia). It does these things:
American interests must be at stake
Must be a violation of international peace and security
Operation must be of a predictable, limited duration
Costs and risks must be acceptable and shared
Mission must use a system of command and control approved by the US
military
Participation requires the support of Congress and public opinion.
*2002 American Servicemembers Protection Act stops the US from being in
UN PKOs if the country where the op is doesnt grant immunity from ICC
prosecution. Also, interestingly, it allows the US to use military force to
liberate any American or citizen of a U.S.-allied country being held by the
court, which is located in The Hague. This provision is dubbed the "Hague
invasion clause."
*The Authorization in Foreign Relations Act of 1994-1995 imposed a payment
cap on US payments to the UN. The US can only pay 25% of the total costs,
but it is currently assessed 27%. Bush has actually asked for this cap to be
lifted, but Congress wont do it.
*The U.N. Participation Act and Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. It limits the
authority of the president so that he or she can only give 1,000 troops at any
one time to UN missions. It also precludes the use of U.S. advisors, facilities,
services and equipment for peace enforcement operations.
Basic Concepts
Collective Security

Case Study: Cambodia

UNTAC UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia. Cost $1.6 billion dollars, involved

22,000 people. March 1992-Sept 1993
History: from 1975-9, Cambodia was ruled by the Khmer Rouge (led by Pol Pot). They
killed about a million Cambodians. The Khmer Rouge went into Vietnam a few times.
This irritated Vietnam, and in 1979 Vietnam invaded Cambodia and installed a puppet
government the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP).
This destabilized the region. The CPP committed lots of atrocities, and hundreds of
thousands fled. The Khmer Rouge went to the mountains. They formed an alliance with
2 other Cambodian political parties in 1982.
In 1991, the Paris Peace Agreements were signed.
So, in 1992 UNTAC is deployed. Its supposed to oversee a ceasefire, repatriate
refugees, and conduct an election.

But
The Khmer Rouge did not disarm, CPP refused to work with the UN, and the UN
couldnt control the CPP, which used the governments power to intimidate voters.
The whole thing looked like it would tank, and so the UN did the logical thing and held
elections.
90% voted.
The CPP lost the elections, but threatened civil war if they werent given a share of the
power.
So the US & the UN pressured the winners to share power with the CPP and Hun Sen
(former ruler).
Then
UNTAC declares victory and goes home.
Civil war happens
Theres a 1997 coup by the CPP (remember, the UN didnt disarm the parties)
In 1998, the CPP won elections it sponsored.
Things are better now, and Pol Pots dead, but the CPP is still in power and the UN &
US are calling the mission a success.
What Went Wrong?
No mandate
No exit strategy
Little to bad results
A huge increase in AIDS and prostitution

Case Study: Rwanda

Studies by the OAU and the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly
Conflict showed that 5,000 troops in April of 1994 would have saved half a
million lives.
The US was a big problem stopping intervention here. Much of this was
because of PDD-25 and Somalia.

Case Study: Somalia