THE UN/THE EU: Current demand on United Nations peacekeeping is pushing the system to the outer limits of its capacity, and the European Union and member-countries can play a vital role in keeping the blue helmet missions viable. Conor O'Clery in New York reports
This is the message the head of UN peacekeeping, Under Secretary General Jean-Marie Guéhenno, is bringing to an EU seminar in Dublin today on the synergy between UN and EU crisis management.
There are 15 peacekeeping operations on three continents, which could increase to 18 shortly, the French diplomat said in an interview in his office on the 37th floor of UN headquarters in New York.
Some 50,000 soldiers and police personnel were currently deployed, mainly from developing countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the number of blue helmets globally could soon reach 65,000 to 70,000, said Mr Guéhenno. Ireland with 490 personnel overseas is 25th out of 94 contributing countries in terms of numbers, most of these (433) being in Liberia.
The EU can help in wide-ranging ways in peacekeeping operations, said Mr Guéhenno, sometimes under the chain of command of the UN, sometimes within the UN framework. The EU or member-countries can provide a bridging arrangement in an emergency while a blue helmet force is being organised.
"Countries that have a capability to deploy quickly can save the day," he stated and the EU can also provide an "over-the-horizon force" to act as a deterrent.
Mr Guéhenno said he was very heartened to see Ireland show the way in Africa, a continent which "scared" western countries. UN peacekeeping is about global solidarity, he said.
"You can't have one particular group of countries take a disproportionate part of the burden. It doesn't send the right message if a group as powerful as the EU were to stay away from UN peacekeeping. It would send a message of disengagement.
"I also think that a country like Ireland, because it is not perceived to have a narrow national agenda, makes a very important contribution to peacekeeping. When you have troops from a country that is there because it wants to support the goals of the UN charter, it sends exactly the kind of message we want to send."
The international community now had to make some hard decisions about peacekeeping, Mr Guéhenno said, and he proposed four principles to guide those decisions.
The first was no engagement in a hot war. "We have learned the hard way if you insert peacekeepers in a situation where there is no peace to keep, you court disaster. If you want to enforce the peace you need overwhelming force." This was best done by a coalition of the willing. "The UN should not be waging wars, even when it is for peace."
The second was that partners count. "We are going to see more and more hybrid operations where the UN can get helpful support from partners, such as bridging arrangements, an over-the-horizon force, or a pillar structure as in Kosovo where the EU is one of the pillars."
Thirdly, no job can be done without the tools. "We often deploy on the basis of political agreements with entities that are weak, such as armed groups," he said.
Fourthly, blue helmets must stick with it until peace takes root. Peacekeeping required long-term effort and investment. The cost of UN peacekeeping operations at $4 billion a year was less than half a per cent of world military spending.