The United Nations

There have been 54 United Nations mandated peace, humanitarian, and observer missions through December 31, 2000. Thirty-five of these were initiated during the 1990s and one
— the U.N. Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) — in 2000.

As of the end of the year, 15 missions still exist manned by just over 50,000 troops, military observers, police, and international civilians drawn from 88 countries and local civilians. The U.S. contribution is 872 observers and police, but no troops. This number does not include the 20,000 members of the Bosnia Stabilization Force (SFOR) from 33 nations (4,600 U.S.) or the 38,000 in the Kosovo Force (KFOR) from 37 nations (5,500 U.S.). The cost of the current missions for the period July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001 is estimated at nearly $3 billion. Costs from the first mission, begun in 1948, to date for the 54 missions is about $21 billion. Unpaid peacekeeping contributions stand at $2.5 billion, of which the U.S. owes more than 60%.

The chart portrays the number of U.N. missions at the end of each year since 1989 while the table lists the 15 ongoing U.N. peacekeeping operations as of December 31, 2000.

CURRENT PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
 

Mission Name and Location	Acronym	Starting Date
U.N. Truce Supervision Organization – Middle East	UNTSO	June 1948
U.N. Military Observer Group in India-Pakistan – Kashmir	UNMOGIP	January 1949
U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus	UNFICYP	March 1964
U.N. Disengagement Observer Force – Golan Heights	UNDOF	June 1974
U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon	UNIFIL	March 1978
U.N. Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara	MINURSO	April 1991
U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission	UNIKOM	April 1991
U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia	UNOMIG	August 1993
U.N. Mission in Bosnia Herzegovina	UNMIBH	December 1995
U.N. Mission of Observers in Prevlaka – Croatia	UNMOP	January 1996
U.N. Interim Administration in Kosovo	UNMIK	June 1999
U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone	UNAMSIL	October 1999
U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor	UNTAET	October 1999
U.N. Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	MONUC	November 1999
U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea	UNMEE	July 2000

 
 Source: United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations

In December 1999 the Security Council also mandated a new Iraqi inspection regime, The Iraq Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission – UNMOVIC – to resume the work of the U.N. Special Commission in searching for weapons of mass destruction. However, Iraq has refused to allow the team to deploy.

In addition, the U.N. Secretary General is represented by 68 "special and personal representatives or envoys," some of whom are associated with the U.N.'s 14 non-peacekeeping political missions or offices.

The Brahimi Report

On August 23, 2000, the long-awaited Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations was released. Also known as the Brahimi report (after the panel's chairman, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria), the document details 56 recommendations to improve planning, preparation, and execution of peace operations. Some of the most significant are:

•	permit use of some of the first-year's budget to fund high impact projects;
•	provide peacekeepers with "robust rules of engagement" allowing troops to defend themselves and the mission's mandate;
•	not authorize missions requiring large deployments until the Secretary-General has firm troop commitments and other necessary support elements;
•	establish a U.N. information and strategic analysis secretariat to assist the Departments of Political Affairs and Peacekeeping;
•	set a "full deployment" time line standard of 30 days for traditional and 90 days for complex peacekeeping operations following passage of a Security Council resolution;
•	systemize selection of mission leaders and other key officials (military, police, and other civilian specialists);
•	integrate public information and logistics support planning with operational plans; and
•	define as a "core function" and substantially increase resources in the U.N. headquarters devoted to supporting peacekeeping field operations.

On October 20, Secretary-General Kofi Annan submitted his own report on implementing the Brahimi report. He stressed that the recommendations applied to armed U.N. missions deployed with the consent of all factions rather than as a series of steps to create a "U.N. army." He also cautioned that "peacekeeping operations should not be used as a substitute for addressing the root causes of conflict" which can only be remedied by coordinated political, social, and developmental efforts.

Regional Options

Many regional organizations have security functions. Most promote confidence building measures such as transparency in arms production and stockpiles, controlling arms flows into their areas, and requiring members to announce military exercises. A few have mechanisms to help diffuse or resolve disputes: monitors, assistance groups, conflict resolution conferences, and — as a last resort — ad hoc military commands to suppress fighting.

This table lists major regional organizations that have evolved some (often minimal) security functions in addition to their original purposes.

REGIONAL SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS
 

Organization, Acronym, and Number of Members	Date	Purposes and Comments
Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe, OSCE /55	1973	Conventional arms control; confidence building measures; 25 of 26 advisory/monitoring missions or groups are in the former USSR & Yugoslavia
Organization of African Unity, OAU /53	1963	Promote unity; defend sovereignty of members; coordinate economic, diplomatic, educational, health, welfare, scientific, & defense policies
Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS /16	1977	Political-economic development; defense & security; small arms moratorium; dominated by Nigeria
Treaty of Non-Aggression, Assistance and Mutual Defense, ANAD /7	1977	Maintain regional peace and security, with emphasis on peaceful dispute settlement. All members belong to ECOWAS
Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS /11	1983	Economic development; constant war has undermined development efforts
South African Development Community, SADC /14	1977	Peacekeeping, inter-state defense & security cooperation
Arab Maghreb Union, UMA /5	1989	Socio-political & economic development; national training in peacekeeping
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, IGAD /7	1977	Political-economic & security cooperation; has been subject to constant strife among members, 3 of whom are still involved in major conflicts
Organization of American States, OAS /35	1948	Non-intervention in internal affairs of members; peaceful settlement of disputes; limit conventional weapons arsenals; eliminate terrorism, illicit drugs, and weapons trafficking
Association of East Asian Nations, ASEAN /10	1967	Economic, social, and cultural development; political & economic stability; forum to resolve intra-regional disputes
ASEAN Regional Forum, ARF /22	1994	Asian-Pacific security cooperation, confidence building, preventive diplomacy

 
 Source: United Nations

 
The African Crisis Response Initiative

In an effort to minimize U.S. involvement in peace operations (and thereby minimize the risk of U.S. casualties), the Clinton Administration in 1997 initiated the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI). This program provides training and equipment to troops from selected sub-Saharan African states. The criteria for participation are that governments must be democracies, observe human rights, and be governed by civilians. Some of the countries chosen, which include Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Ghana, and Cote d'Ivoire, have very uneven records with regard to these criteria, but they have not been dropped from the program. ACRI has the encouragement of the United Nations insofar as African nations currently provide over 25% of the nearly 29,000 military personnel employed on U.N. peacekeeping duty.

 
The U.S.-U.N. Stand-off

Resolution of the stand-off about U.N. reform and U.S. arrears seemed at hand at year's end. Following intense lobbying by U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the U.N. General Assembly agreed to lower the U.S. assessment for regular U.N. operations from the current 25% to 22% of the annual $1.1 billion budget. The sticking point had been the 3% gap for 2001 — $35 million — which other countries were unwilling to assume. The deal was struck when Ted Turner donated the $35 million needed to bridge the 2001 budget gap.

The General Assembly also agreed to lower Washington's peacekeeping assessment from its current 30.4% to 28% in 2001 and to 26% in 2003.

While the U.N. has agreed to the deal, Congress must still approve because the percentage of the peacekeeping assessment does not meet the unilateral ceiling of 25% mandated by Congress. Currently, the U.S. owes $1.3 billion for both regular and peacekeeping assessments, according to the U.N.

For Additional Information:

CDI Peacekeeping Citations List Home Page

CDI United Nations Issues Home Page

E-Mail CDI Chief of Research Col. Daniel Smith, USA (Ret.).

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