United Nations
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After the end of the world war one, the league of nation was formed to maintain world peace and security. However, it was inactive in its role and seized activity in the world war two after which the United Nations was formed to maintain peace using the same tactics as the League of Nations, United Nations however was focused on improving the peacekeeping mechanisms (Sterling, 2010). United Nations dispute resolution strategy involved negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement. Failure of parties to agree called for the use of force. However, the charter members who held the authority of operations limited the United Nations operations.
The five permanent members of the charter comprised of America, China, France, Britain, and Russia (Westerfield, 1996). The collective security system failed due to clarity in the definition of peace operations. The peacekeeping operations were subdivided into generations .The “first generation” peacekeeping was during the cold war, “second generation” peacekeeping was between the late 1980’s and the early 1990s and “third generation” peacekeeping after the late 1990s (Sterling, 2010). The scope of UN peace keeping operations were small during the second peace keeping operations due to factors that will be discussed later in this paper. However after the cold war, the number, scope, and length of such operations expanded to 20 new operations between 1989 and 1994.this paper majors on outlining the reasons that prompted the UN peacekeeping operations to expand after 1990.
With the culmination of the cold war, the nature of conflicts also changed. Originally, the UN peacekeeping operations were engrossed in solving interstate conflicts. There emerged a new different kind of conflicts that arose from weak institutions, secessionism, ethnic and tribal clashes and civil wars within states rather than between them (Lowe, Roberts, Welsh & Zaum, 2008). The rising intrastate conflicts and the explosion of frozen interstate conflicts of the cold war forced the UN to reform in a bid to adapt to these changes. Complex multidimensional peacekeeping emerged in reaction to the added demands of the vehement intrastate conflicts.
After the cold war, there was renewed hope that the UN peace operation systems would revive so that the UN would operate within the charter it had created during its establishment in 1945. Scholars, politicians, the media and the public had raised their expectations for the UN especially after the successful UN coalition in conquering Saddam’s attack on Kuwait (Brown, 1993). It was only natural for the UN to reform its peacekeeping strategies so it could match up to the widespread optimism.
There was also rising demand for the United Nations to undertake a wide variety of complex tasks ranging from structuring viable institutions of governance, to human rights monitoring, to security sector reform(Post Cold-War surge) as well as the demilitarization, disbandment and reintegration of prior fighters. This new task called for reforms that would equip the UN fully by improving its strategy and skills.
The shifting of the UN strategic context of peacekeeping in the 1990s prompted an equivalent Organizational modification to adapt complex multidimensional. These multidimensional operations were designed to safeguard the implementation of comprehensive peace covenants and help in placing foundations for maintaining peace. Under traditional peacekeeping, traditional peacekeepers failed to pursue political solutions, but operated to establish environments that were conducive for rivaling parties to form political settlements (Lowe, Roberts, Welsh & Zaum, 2008). There was an increase in complex clashes, which was not anticipated for initiated the need for fresh approaches, roles and skills, as well as resources and participants.
With a broader range of objectives came a demand a new multidimensional methodology that incorporated civilians, police and military participants. The backbone of peacekeeping operations increased from military to the administrators, economists, police officers, legal experts, de-miners, electoral observers, human rights monitors, civil affairs and governance experts, philanthropic workers, communications and public information experts (What is Peacekeeping, 2003). With all the shareholders, the UN had to reform and incorporates them in their operations. With this diversity in participants, it became acute to unify the efforts and commitments among the many participants. A wider partnership was reflected in the structure of all UN peacekeeping operations. There was need to avert the outbreak of conflict or the spillover of conflict across borders. With increased participation from diverse career experts, environmental, developmental and socioeconomic objectives were appended as the necessity for more comprehensive responses became increasingly apparent.
Another reason UN expanded its operation was in response to the rapidly increasing number of crises of countries and regions which called for the UN to expand its locations of operations (Lawson, 2012). In 1987, there were about 10,000 UN peacekeepers on missions around the world but this figure rose with the rise in the number of countries under conflicts. Since the conclusion of the Gulf War, the UN had launched fourteen new operations in Angola, Somalia, Mozambique, Georgia, Liberia, Rwanda, Haiti, and South Africa (Lawson, 2012). For the UN to tackle the increasing operations with the same limited resources it had, reforms were paramount to ensure the UN solved as many disputes as it could manage. However, these new operations were qualitatively and quantitatively different from the earlier UN peacekeeping operations during the Cold War hence need the UN to upgrade its systems in a bid to equip itself for these new challenges.
Another reason that prompted the UN to reform was the failure to restore peace in the Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia missions (Lawson, 2012). In Bosnia, UN peacekeepers were incapable of sojourning the ethnic clashes. The United Nations had further been denied the mandate and power to attack the aggressors. This crippled the operations. The United States was the initial pace setter but later had the problem to the UN. In addition, the United States denied the UN aid from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Lack of adequate funds to finance the operation made UN inadequate in its mission. Finally, when the conflict was in its critical stage and seemed uncontrollable, domestic concern had emerged and the United States initiated military action and negotiated for settlement (Brown, 1993). For many, the situation in Bosnia highlighted the certainty that besides legal minutiae at the United Nations, only the United States had the capability to execute peace in the world (Brown, 1993). Since the UN was the only reliable peace restoration movement at the time, these failures placed the UN under global scrutiny and criticism. The lengthy, intense conflicts in Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, was a great show of the weaknesses of the UN for onlookers and the world at large (Brown, 1993). The bad notions and reputations placed on the UN especially in the united state politics of the time called for the UN secretary of the council to initiate reforms that commenced with the release of the Brahmin Report. The purpose of the report was to outline earlier peacekeeping missions, segregate flaws, and take steps to patch these mistakes all with an aim to ensure the efficiency of future peacekeeping missions (Jones, 2006).
The other cause of reforms in the UN during the second generation of peacekeeping was the freedom of superpower rivalry. During the early Cold War period, The UN was completely under the authority of the US and its Western allies. Colonization altered the previous balance between the GA and the SC is transforming the UN into a third world dominated organization However, this situation began to transform with the decolonization process in the 1960s.decolonisation freed the united nations from the binding constraints of the super-power rivalry into a period of unparalleled cooperation. The disbanding of the two Cold War superpowers USSR and the Soviet bloc reduced the distrust and the hostility between the two blocs. This bequeathed UN with the drive to perform effectively its role in the field of international peace and security. The renewed peace provided a serene environment for the UN to undertake its operations.
The increase in role of the UN from Stabilizing conflict situations after a cease-fire to post peace resolution tasks for example Leading states or territories through a transition to a stable government, based on democratic principles, good governance and financial development were the other purpose of the reforms (Cooper, 2008). There was a need for the Security Council to expand its peacekeeping responsibilities to incorporate immediate post-conflict peace building and create an environment for the parties to reach a lasting peace agreement (Cooper, 2008).
With the new roles, UN operations expanded to cover multinationals and multi-cultural aspects. The number of member states donating personnel and resources increased from the small groups of 26 traditional troop contributors to comprise over 100 countries (Lawson, 2012). A higher priority was bestowed to preparing immense numbers of civilian peacekeepers. This forced both the member states and the UN to develop reforms aimed to introduce on-call lists of personnel. The civilians also had to be trained and educated with requisite skills and knowledge they required to qualify for the numerous positions in operations worldwide.
Aside from the operational difficulties, the united nation expected since it expanded its operations to include a citizen of countries with many diverse cultures and customs, the number of risks also rose particularly for those countries located in areas of high risk (Lawson, 2012). With the risks emerged serious problems like numerous incidents of sexual misconduct, which demanded a higher sensitivity, focus and precedence to gender, humanitarian law and ethics. This called for the UN to make reforms that would include policies against such risks.
Another reason for UN reforms was the increase in risks among participants. The risks of participation in complex multidimensional operations also increased (Jones, 2006). Recruits working in severe war zones faced a greater risk from the occurrence of incidences like accidents and illness. The number of malicious acts that resulted in death of participants rose to 127 peacekeepers in 1993.the rises in mortality rates came at a time when the civilian police (CIVPOL) became indispensable in the majority of operations(Luck, 2009). With the increasing death came a necessity to the UN to attract and train persons from within the member countries national police amenities. Similarly, the UN began to recruit civilian peacekeepers from both the member states and the UN. There was the need for the United Nations to advance training and efforts to prepare the civilians for the field duty tasks ahead.
With increased industrialization, the issue on finances UN required to participate in its operations became a topic of concern. Although united nation operation are considered equivalent and proportional to the fund used to facilitate these operations, UN peacekeeping operations are not cheap because a large number of people must be prepared, transported or deployed in remote locations(What is Peacekeeping, 2003). In addition, they must be provided with housing, food and working equipment’s like automobiles to allow their mobility in the required areas. This entire basic requirement, the UN must provide hence rendering the peacekeeping operations very expensive. In the 1980s, the UN’s long-standing financial difficulties became acute, which was exacerbated by the reduction of the US’s contribution to its budget. There was the need for the UN to transform its peacekeeping operations from hefty and costly security oriented peacekeeping operations to lighter, peace building-oriented missions (Jones, 2006).
Another reason that called for the UN to reform was increased financial aid. Financial contributors even those with few exceptions on the United Nations, were willing to fund and sustain the United Nations operations (Jones, 2006). Previously, the UN financial burden had been shared by the wealthy member states like America, Britain, Canada, Spain, China and the Netherlands among others (Luck, 2009). UN member states of the Southern hemisphere, particularly Asia and Africa assumed replaced these dominant troop contributors to UN peacekeeping operations in a bid to secure a place among the permanent members of the Council. Japan currently contributes more than 12 percent of the budget while Germany’s annual contribution to the UN is larger than that of France and Britain (Jones, 2006).
United Nations reformed because as a response to the freedom it acquired after decolonization in the mid 1960s.the elimination of dominant powers and political influence had led to an increase in the number of members. The membership of the UN has increased sharply from 42 states to 185 states (Lawson, 2012). The new members called for a balance of power unlike in prior years where many people considered France and Great Britain as great powers. The new UN members also had Shared vision with members of the Security Council. There was a new willingness among the permanent members to co-operate for dealing with the crises, and carrying out their primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. In the late 1980s was newly emerging co-operation among the five permanent members of the Security Council (Brown, 1993). With new countries emerged with new roles in global affairs hence a need to reform.
The downfall of communism resulted to a brief Renaissance in the United Nations in the 1990s and pushed the UN to reform. For decades, Western leaders had blamed the Communists for the inability for UN action, so with the collapse, came a great expectation that the United Nations would be empowered to act. The diversity of the United Nations’ membership and the ambitious nature of its mandates make it highly likely that some constituencies will be seriously disappointed with its power-sharing arrangements and/or its accomplishments at any point in time. Persistent disappointment or feelings of disenfranchisement have often led to calls for reform.
Critics keep calling for reform, in part, because the United Nations has been so slow in delivering it (Luck, 2009). As the major powers hoped in San Francisco, formal institutional and structural reforms (Krasno, 2004) have proven hard to achieve with the UN system. The concerns about UN management and finance voiced by Congress in the late 1940s (Krasno, 2004) moreover, were echoed, a half-century later, in the late 1990s (Krasno, 2004).
After the end of the Cold War, growing co-operation in the peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations led to the questioning of the necessity of veto (Brown, 1993). For many people, in a world where co-operation was possible, and national troop contributions to UN military operations is voluntary, the reasons behind the veto became less obvious, and giving this right to new members getting harder to justify.
As the world changes, so do the politics of the United Nations and the priorities of its Member States. In looking to the United Nations to fulfill new mandates that exceed its capacities, influential non-governmental groups often look for structural innovations (Luck, 2009) or to the creation of new bodies to close the gap between expectations and capabilities. In both cases, proposals for reform usually follow (Krasno, 2004).
There was need to get rid of the paralyzing effect of the veto, regularly used by the superpowers against each other during the Cold War (Lawson, 2012). The veto privileges of five states nevertheless provoke contention, and it is widely perceived as having held the UN back from fulfilling its functions during the Cold War. Yet, the veto has merits as well as faults; it helped to get and keep the major powers within the UN framework when they would otherwise have either not joined in the first place or else deserted it; it may save the UN from damaging conflicts with its major members (Brown, 1993). This has contributed to a sense of responsibility and a habit of careful consultation among the permanent five (Brown, 1993), and it reduces the risk of acute discrepancies between power politics and the law of the UN Charter. In short, the veto can be viewed as one of several factors, which have made for the superiority of UN’s decision-making procedures over those of its predecessor, the League of Nations, and over many other regional organizations.
In conclusion, several reasons led to the increase in the number of members and expansion of operations of the UN before 1990. These reasons include the liberation of un from super power rivalry, the need to implement the 1940 suggested reforms, decolonization, change in nature of conflicts, high expectations, increase in number of countries under conflict, a demand for the un to diversify the nature of its tasks, reduced financial assistance that led adoption of cost effective military operations, multicultural operations that led to increased need to train civilians, the need to eliminate veto in a bid to restore balance, increased financial support, increased operational risks, failure of past missions and a change on the role of the united nations.
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