December 2, 2004
Today, a blue-ribbon UN panel released its long awaited report,
The panel's report does a good job of identifying the current problems with the UN peacekeeping system. Most of these problems are well known, but it is useful to call attention to them. Unfortunately, with one notable exception, the report offers few concrete suggestions for how to remedy these problems. The exception is the report's recognition that building a lasting peace between warring parties is far more than simply monitoring a ceasefire. To remedy this, the panel calls for the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission that will "marshal and sustain the efforts of the international community in post-conflict peacebuilding over whatever period may be necessary."
Report Highlights Problems
There are many problems with the UN peacekeeping system, and most of the problems identified in "A More Secure World" have been discussed in previous UN reports, like the Brahimi Report. For example, there are not enough peacekeepers worldwide. The countries that provide the most peacekeepers do not have the logistical or transportation resources to support their forces in the field. Peacekeeping missions have trouble getting the funding and troop commitments necessary to support a mission large enough to carry out the mission's mandate. Not enough money is spent on preventing states from failing in the first place, and not enough money is spent on providing disarmament, demobilization, re-integration and rehabilitation programs, rule of law, democratization, and civilian policing programs as an integral part of post-conflict peacebuilding.
Regrettably, the report offers few practical steps the UN could take to alleviate these problems. For example, in response to the shortage of logistical support, the report suggests that "States that have either global or regional air or sea-lift capacities should make these available to the United Nations." The report's solution to peacekeeping missions that do not have sufficient troops to carry out their mandate is that "the Security Council should authorize troop strengths sufficient to deter and repel hostile factions.
It is true that the Security Council should not authorize peacekeeping missions that do not have the troop strength to carry out their mandate, but the report does not offer any concrete, practical steps for how to change the authorization process so that missions have adequate capacity. This is a general failing of the sections of the report devoted to peacekeeping.
Recommends Creation of Peacebuilding Commission
The notable exception to this lack of concrete recommendations is the call for the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission. Peacekeeping alone cannot build a lasting peace in war-torn countries. Traditional peacekeeping activities, like patrolling buffer zones and ceasefire monitoring, may be able to prevent new outbreaks of hostilities, but they do little to address the underlying problems that caused the conflict.
Deploying peace enforcement and peacekeeping forces may be essential in terminating conflicts but are not sufficient for long-term recovery. Serious attention to the longer-term process of peacebuilding in all its multiple dimensions is critical; failure to invest adequately in peacebuilding increases the odds that a country will relapse into conflict.
