2000
Revised Role in Humanitarian Tragedies (September 3, 2000)
UK Foreign Minister Robin Cook agrees with the recent Brahimi Report. He also calls for strong measures, including a "Framework for Intervention " for peacekeeping missions, addressing the balance of the Security Council and a training college for UN troops. (By Robin Cook and Menzies Campbell)
Sierra Leone: UN Will Respond to Attacks (August 4, 2000)
The UN Security Council sends a warning to the rebels in Sierra Leone. The newly adopted resolution calls on the UN peacekeepers to respond "robustly" to any hostile actions or threat of force in Sierra Leone. (United Press International)
Who Wants Peacekeeping? Put Up or Shut Up (August 3, 2000)
''If we don't want to do [UN peacekeeping] properly, should we do it at all?" asks the UN Secretary General. Planning for the worst-case scenarios, adding new resources, and a new focus are needed in UN peacekeeping or it will go down the "boneyard of history." (Washington Post / International Herald Tribune)
Africa Needs Well-Trained, Well-Equipped Peacekeepers To Meet Crises (August 3, 2000)
Kofi Annan addressed a crowd at the opening of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana, emphasizing Ghana's great 40 year dedication to UN peacekeeping.(M2 Presswire)
Annan Justifies UN's "Preemptive Strike" Against Sierra Leone Militia (July 25, 2000)
The UN Secretary General gets tough on the Sierra Leonean rebels as he warned that rebels plotting attacks on the UN peacekeepers would have to pay the price.( Agence France Presse)
Traumatized Former Peacekeepers will be Offered Counseling in B.C. (July 7, 2000)
"We came in contact with absolute evil," one peacekeeper said of his experience in Croatia. The University of British Columbia is to offer counseling to Canadian peacekeepers that have suffered from trauma-induced stress in missions around the world. (Vancouver Sun )
US Ambassador to UN Calls for Changes in Peacekeeping (June 14, 2000)
Amb. Holbrooke of the US urged the professionalization of UN peacekeeping by "borrowing" experienced military personnel to organize effective operations. Holbrooke also argued that all UN members should give more support to the peacekeeping operations. However this is unlikely to be well received considering the criticism against the US for its lack of support of the UN through lagging behind in payments. (New York Times)
Annan: UN Force Learns from its Errors Peacekeeping Troops Rebuilding in Africa (June 2, 2000)
Despite many difficulties in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, the UN Secretary General argued that the mission in Sierra Leone is now stronger after the initial setbacks. He also reiterated that the UN can only be as effective as its member states allow it to be. ( Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Shame; Rationalizing Western Apathy on Rwanda (May/June, 2000)
Could the Western states have done something to stop the genocide in Rwanda? Des Forges revisits this agonizing question and challenges Alan J. Kuperman's argument ("Rwanda in Retrospect," Foreign Affairs, January/February 2000) that the world was unaware of the genocide in April 1994 until it was too late. (Foreign Affairs)
Peacekeeping Efforts Require Qualified Troops Under UN (May 25, 2000)
For the peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone, African leaders are considering whether to send their soldiers under the command of the UN or the independent force ECOMOG. Some argue that it is better to deploy troops under the UN command with appropriate equipment and military training. (United States Committee on Refugees)
West Exasperated by a Failed Intervention (May 16, 2000)
As the crisis in Sierra Leone unfolds, some European members express disappointment toward the Clinton administration for standing in the sidelines, and the UN Security Council for getting involved in risky peacekeeping operations without appropriate means.( International Herald Tribune )
Annan Sets Up Panel to Study UN's Peacekeeping Predicament (March 8, 2000)
A new panel is set up to look into how the UN may best handle difficult peacekeeping missions with the meagre resources at its disposal (New York Times).
1999
UN Failed Rwanda, Ignored Evidence of Genocide (December 16, 1999)
An Associated Press article about an independent report, commissioned by Secretary General Kofi Annan, that faults the UN and Security Council members for lack of political will. It says the UN ignored information that a genocide was planned, refused to act once the genocide had begun and then abandoned Rwandans in need of protection.
UN 'Appeased' and Unwittingly Aided Genocide (November 15, 1999)
An article from TheWashington Post about a report unveiling the UN responsibility for the deaths of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in July 1995, when Bosnian Serbs took over the "safe area" of Srebrenica.
Annan Apologizes for UN Failure to Stop Bosnian Massacre (October 12, 1999)
The failure to act on preventing the Srebenica killings lies deep on the conscience of the UN the Secretary General looks back regretfully and pledges a memorial. (UN Wire)
In Angola, UN Peacekeeping Sounds 'Retreat' (March 20, 1999)
Latest withdrawal in Angola reflects dwindling hope and support for global intervention. The UN's peacekeeping process and the way the United States influence it. An analysis of the past and an outlook on the future.
The Rwanda Genocide: "The Triumph of Evil" (January 1999)
Link to PBS interview with Igbal Riza, UN Chief of Staff. Riza responds to charges that high-level UN officals knew in advance of the possibility that mass killings would occur. Site includes analysis of the failed UN peacekeeping mission and how prior events in Somalia influenced the West's responce.
1997
Could 5,000 Peacekeepers Have Saved 500,000 Rwandans? (April 1997)
This report by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University concludes that early intervention could have prevented the full-scale disaster in Rwanda had member states been willing to seize the "window of opportunity."
