Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Challenges for the 'new peacekeepers'

Challenges for the 'new peacekeepers' On 21-22 April 1994, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in cooperation with the Stock- holm Peace Research Institute (SIPR1) or- ganized a conference in Bonn, titled 'Challenges for the new peacekeepers'. About 80 participants took part in the con- ference, these included representatives of the UN, CSCE and NATO, various na- tional defence and foreign relations mini- stries, diplomats from Embassies and military pesonnel concerned with peacekeeping issues. As well it was at- tended by members of the german parlia- ment and individuals from various research institutes and the academia. After the end of the cold war multilateral peacekeeeping has been provided with various new opportunities and has been considerably developed regarding the size and number of its tasks. In parallell, the range of states now participating in interna- tional peacekeeping has increased. However, this of course does not mean that the UN's needs in terms of finances and manpower required to maintain its peacekeeping activities are being met. Quite the opposite is true, as we all know (see the latest report of the Secretary- General on 'Improving the capacity of the UN for peacekeeping' (S/26450 of 14 March 1994). Against this background the topic of the conference was indeed very timely. The major aim of the conference was to present and examine the initial experiences of a number of countries that have just started to contribute actively to peacekeep- ing and to understand the environment in which future missions will take place. The presentations during the conference can be divided into: Basic observations regarding new opportunities and challenges for peacekeeping after the end of the cold war and the role that the 'new peacekeepers' may play; National reports from a number of the 'new peacekeepers' which were contrasted with reports from countries with a long tradition in peacekeeping; and the approach of international organizations in- volved in peacekeeping. The first set of presentations introduced the 'new peacekeepers': Who are they?; What is their motivation?; What are they expected to do? One of the basic observa- tions in this respect was, that domestic con- siderations remained to be the prime motivating factor for participating - or not participating - in peacekeeping missions. When discussing the opportunities and challenges for future peacekeeping opera- tions, there was wide agreement between participants that the failure of large-scale missions like in Somalia and ex-Yugos- lavia requires a revision of peacekeeping concepts. The reluctance of the Security Council to adopt new ambitious mandates, although the situation in a number of countries may suggest a need to do so, as well as of member states regarding con- tribution to such operations are a clear sign for a change of attitudes. The second set of presentations was to provide more detailed information on a number of countries regarding their at- titude towards contributing to peacekeep- ing, focussing on domestic political and legal discussions and controversies. With Japan and Germany a group of countries was presented that have, for historical reasons, excluded themselves - and were excluded - from peacekeeping after World War II. As it is well known, these countries currently face an intense political discussion about their partipation. A fur- ther complication is added by constitu- tional regulations which have severely restricted their participation so far. The second group of countries comprised of Russia, the United States and Great Britain, all of them permanent members of the Security Council with varying interests and experience in UN as well as non-UN peacekeeping. The third group consisted of Eastern European countries: the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Hungary, which are con- fronted with conflicts in the neighbour- hoods and have to define their interests after the decline of the Warsaw Pact. These country reports were contrasted with presentations from 'old peacekeepers' in- cluding Norway, Austria and Italy, who have mainly participated in traditional peacekeeping missions and now have to decide whether or not they want to move beyond the traditional lines of peacekeep- ing. The final part was devoted to the role of multilateral organizations in involved in peacekeeping, presenting views from the perspectives of the UN, CSCE and NATO. The organizers intend to publish the proceedings of the conference in the new SIPRI Peacekeeping Monograph Series later this year. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of International Peacekeeping Brill

Challenges for the 'new peacekeepers'

Journal of International Peacekeeping , Volume 1 (2): 1 – Jan 1, 1994

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/challenges-for-the-new-peacekeepers-Z00fmRktWU

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1875-4104
eISSN
1875-4112
DOI
10.1163/187541194X00082
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

On 21-22 April 1994, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in cooperation with the Stock- holm Peace Research Institute (SIPR1) or- ganized a conference in Bonn, titled 'Challenges for the new peacekeepers'. About 80 participants took part in the con- ference, these included representatives of the UN, CSCE and NATO, various na- tional defence and foreign relations mini- stries, diplomats from Embassies and military pesonnel concerned with peacekeeping issues. As well it was at- tended by members of the german parlia- ment and individuals from various research institutes and the academia. After the end of the cold war multilateral peacekeeeping has been provided with various new opportunities and has been considerably developed regarding the size and number of its tasks. In parallell, the range of states now participating in interna- tional peacekeeping has increased. However, this of course does not mean that the UN's needs in terms of finances and manpower required to maintain its peacekeeping activities are being met. Quite the opposite is true, as we all know (see the latest report of the Secretary- General on 'Improving the capacity of the UN for peacekeeping' (S/26450 of 14 March 1994). Against this background the topic of the conference was indeed very timely. The major aim of the conference was to present and examine the initial experiences of a number of countries that have just started to contribute actively to peacekeep- ing and to understand the environment in which future missions will take place. The presentations during the conference can be divided into: Basic observations regarding new opportunities and challenges for peacekeeping after the end of the cold war and the role that the 'new peacekeepers' may play; National reports from a number of the 'new peacekeepers' which were contrasted with reports from countries with a long tradition in peacekeeping; and the approach of international organizations in- volved in peacekeeping. The first set of presentations introduced the 'new peacekeepers': Who are they?; What is their motivation?; What are they expected to do? One of the basic observa- tions in this respect was, that domestic con- siderations remained to be the prime motivating factor for participating - or not participating - in peacekeeping missions. When discussing the opportunities and challenges for future peacekeeping opera- tions, there was wide agreement between participants that the failure of large-scale missions like in Somalia and ex-Yugos- lavia requires a revision of peacekeeping concepts. The reluctance of the Security Council to adopt new ambitious mandates, although the situation in a number of countries may suggest a need to do so, as well as of member states regarding con- tribution to such operations are a clear sign for a change of attitudes. The second set of presentations was to provide more detailed information on a number of countries regarding their at- titude towards contributing to peacekeep- ing, focussing on domestic political and legal discussions and controversies. With Japan and Germany a group of countries was presented that have, for historical reasons, excluded themselves - and were excluded - from peacekeeping after World War II. As it is well known, these countries currently face an intense political discussion about their partipation. A fur- ther complication is added by constitu- tional regulations which have severely restricted their participation so far. The second group of countries comprised of Russia, the United States and Great Britain, all of them permanent members of the Security Council with varying interests and experience in UN as well as non-UN peacekeeping. The third group consisted of Eastern European countries: the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Hungary, which are con- fronted with conflicts in the neighbour- hoods and have to define their interests after the decline of the Warsaw Pact. These country reports were contrasted with presentations from 'old peacekeepers' in- cluding Norway, Austria and Italy, who have mainly participated in traditional peacekeeping missions and now have to decide whether or not they want to move beyond the traditional lines of peacekeep- ing. The final part was devoted to the role of multilateral organizations in involved in peacekeeping, presenting views from the perspectives of the UN, CSCE and NATO. The organizers intend to publish the proceedings of the conference in the new SIPRI Peacekeeping Monograph Series later this year.

Journal

Journal of International PeacekeepingBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1994

There are no references for this article.