Mark Malan Weighs In On the Future of Peacekeeping
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
This past week, Foreign Policy Passport and U.N. Dispatch teamed up to host an online salon discussing the future of peacekeeping in light of current crises: UN Peacekeeping: Challenges and Opportunities for the Next Administration. Refugees International used this opportunity to discuss the challenges facing peacekeepers’ ability to bring about a stable peace so displaced people can return home.
Mark Malan, Refugees International’s Peacekeeping Program Officer, joined David Bosco, William Durch, Tod Lindberg and Eric Reeves in a longer conversation of the ins and outs of some of the current peacekeeping missions. Mark’s first post for the salon centered on the current African Union mission to Somalia and the debate taking place over sending an expanded UN mission to the country:
To read the entire conversation between Mark and the other experts, check out U.N. Dispatch and FP Passport.
Mark Malan, Refugees International’s Peacekeeping Program Officer, joined David Bosco, William Durch, Tod Lindberg and Eric Reeves in a longer conversation of the ins and outs of some of the current peacekeeping missions. Mark’s first post for the salon centered on the current African Union mission to Somalia and the debate taking place over sending an expanded UN mission to the country:
“….The African Union Mission in Somalia managed to deploy only a quarter of its authorized strength of 8,000 due to a combination of logistical constraints, financial shortfalls, and a lack of peace to keep. With only 2,000 AU troops in Somalia and only 9,000 in Darfur, in March 2008 the UN Security Council was seriously debating the notion of deploying 28,000 UN troops to Somalia.
The widening gap between aspirations and the implementation of successful peace operations is very evident. The multi-billion dollar question is: How do we close this gap? By simply saying "enough" and retreating from the peacekeeping enterprise, as happened in the mid '90s after the last big peak in global peace operations and some nasty experiences in the Balkans and Africa? By trying to expand the available means with the likes of the US-sponsored Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), which aims to train a total of 75,000 peacekeeping troops -- mostly Africans -- by the year 2010? By commissioning another expert panel, like the one led by Lakhdar Brahimi in 2000 which produced very substantive recommendations on how to get the operational mechanics of UN peace operations right? Or by taking a really hard look at the mandate end and the peacemaking processes that precede the crafting of seemingly impossible mission mandates?”
The widening gap between aspirations and the implementation of successful peace operations is very evident. The multi-billion dollar question is: How do we close this gap? By simply saying "enough" and retreating from the peacekeeping enterprise, as happened in the mid '90s after the last big peak in global peace operations and some nasty experiences in the Balkans and Africa? By trying to expand the available means with the likes of the US-sponsored Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), which aims to train a total of 75,000 peacekeeping troops -- mostly Africans -- by the year 2010? By commissioning another expert panel, like the one led by Lakhdar Brahimi in 2000 which produced very substantive recommendations on how to get the operational mechanics of UN peace operations right? Or by taking a really hard look at the mandate end and the peacemaking processes that precede the crafting of seemingly impossible mission mandates?”
To read the entire conversation between Mark and the other experts, check out U.N. Dispatch and FP Passport.
Labels: Peacekeeping
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