Dag Hammarskjöld and United Nations PEACEKEEPING United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld arrived in Gaza on 23 December 1958 to spend Christmas with the troops of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). At left is Lt.Col. J.C. Ruy, Commander of the Brazilian Battalion, and at centre, 2nd row, is UNEF Commander, Lt.Gen. E.L.M. Burns, who accompanied the Secretary-General. UN PHOTO

By CARL BILDT

hen Dag Hammarskjöld was ap- pointed Secretary-General of the WUnited Nations on 7 April 1953, there was a full-scale war on the Korean peninsula, the Organization was deeply ­divided between East and West, and the Soviet Union was boycotting the Security Council over the refusal of the United Na- tions to give the now communist Chinese regime a seat on the Council. It was by no means a safe bet that the United Nations was going to be more successful than its predecessor, the League of Nations, in pre- venting an outbreak of a new world war. The man who took on this mission, however, had a firm belief in the United Nations role as an international peace- keeping body and protector of the inter- ests and integrity of less powerful nations. He was also a strong believer in the power of diplomacy. He knew that even the most intense conflicts must reach a politi- cal solution, and that it was the task of international diplomacy to pave the way towards that end. One would not necessarily expect a person of vision and principle to also be a pragmatic and creative person. That is why Dag Hammarskjöld, fifty years after his death, continues to fascinate and inspire people from all over the world. Hammarskjöld combined these seem- ingly antithetical virtues remarkably well. His often quoted ambition that the United Nations should be a dynamic instrument for its Member States essentially cast pragmatism as vision, for Hammarskjöld

Carl Bildt is Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden.

UN CHRONICLE  No. 2  2011 5 understood that the Organization’s Since the end of the Cold War, the relevance lay in its ability to con- North Atlantic Treaty Organization stantly adapt to new challenges. has played a significant role in a Peacekeeping is perhaps the number of operations in the Balkans, most prominent example of that the Middle East, and Afghanistan. adaptation. When the Suez Crisis The European Union is currently erupted in 1956, the United Nations implementing its External Action Charter did not contain any provi- Service in order to further increase sions for using impartial and armed its diplomatic strength and politi- UN forces to stabilize fragile situa- cal relevance. The Arab League and tions. It still does not—but neither the African Union are important has it ever barred such arrangements. actors in Africa. In Asia, cooperation For Hammarskjöld, this void was an within the Association of Southeast opportunity rather than a constraint. Asian Nations is steadily developing. On the basis of a suggestion from With regard to the broadening of the Canada’s Foreign Minister, Lester ­agenda, the tool box today includes Pearson, he devised the concept of measures to prevent conflicts and to peacekeeping in a few days, and man- support state building and institu- aged to assemble the United Nations tional and economic development, Emergency Force (UNEF) within in addition to classic peacekeeping weeks. It testifies to Hammarskjöld’s actions. The United Nations has also The United Nations will wisdom that the basic principles of become a key actor in developing the UNEF’s operation have remained international legal framework for still provide legitimacy a central feature of all similar UN codes of conduct and rules of engage- interventions to this day. As we con- ment, and in dealing with the conse- for necessary actions sider the future of UN peacekeeping, quences of armed conflicts. however, we should view UNEF as the In recent years, the discussion and be the primary epitome of Hammarskjöld’s pragma- on the new challenges has been guid- coordinator of the tism and creativity. ed by two landmark publications: A number of developments have the Report of the Panel on United international response fundamentally altered the premise Nations Peace Operations of 2000 of UN peacekeeping since the Suez (the “Brahimi Report”), and the to future global and Crisis. The end of the Cold War gave UN Secretariat “non-paper” A New regional crises. In all rise to intrastate conflicts of political Partnership Agenda: Charting a New as well as ethnic and religious stripe, Horizon for UN Peacekeeping of 2009 its diversity, the United conflicts that had been kept in check (the “New Horizon” initiative). by the bipolar tension. Globalization The Brahimi panel found that Nations will still be and the improvement of all means peacekeeping operations were the main forum for the of communication have shrunk dis- increasingly deployed not in post- tances in time and space. The emer- conflict situations, but in stalemate international dialogue gence of regional forms of organi- situations where at least one of the zation have created structures that parties was not seriously commit- on peacekeeping, conflict sometimes complement, sometimes ted to ending the confrontation. prevention, and conflict duplicate, the functions of the United The panel, therefore, acknowledged Nations. While these circumstances the need for UN forces to be pre- resolution. have enabled UN peacekeeping oper- pared to “confront the lingering ■ ■ ■ ■ ations to take on a wider range of forces of war and violence” and to conflicts than before, they have also have “the ability and determination created significant challenges. to defeat them.” The panel stressed Today, the actors are more that impartiality for United Nations numerous and the agenda is broader. operations must mean adherence to

6 carl bildt  dag hammarskjöld and united nations peacekeeping United Nations. Missions need to have clear Security Council mandates, well- crafted guidelines, robust command Hammarskjöld’s overarching and primary and control systems, and the ability and commitment was to the evolution of the determination to perform this difficult task. United Nations. Whether he recognized it or Second, the nexus between peace- keeping and peacebuilding must be not, he was the United Nations able pilot on strengthened. By providing security this journey. and support, peacekeepers play an enabling role for national and interna- ■ ■ ■ ■ tional actors to implement long-term peacebuilding measures in areas such the principles of the Charter. Where contrary, it is an affirmation of the as police, rule of law, Security Sector one party is incontrovertibly violating importance of the task itself and an Reform (SSR), and Disarmament, the Charter’s terms, continued equal acknowledgement that many states Demobilization and Reintegration. treatment may amount to complic- and regional actors today feel a direct Third, the demand for civilian ity with evil. Further, an operation’s responsibility to partake in the global expertise in fields such as rule of law, authority to use force should be speci- agenda for peace and conflict preven- justice, and SSR is increasing, especially fied and its rules of engagement should tion. The United Nations role will be in complex peacekeeping operations. be sufficiently robust to prevent UN different from the role it played in the We must respond to this by strengthen- contingents from ceding the initiative fifties and sixties, but it will not be less ing the supply, retention, and support to peace spoilers. important. The United Nations will still of civilian personnel. It is important The New Horizon non-paper took provide legitimacy for necessary actions that countries from the Global South be stock of the increasing scale and com- and be the primary coordinator of the given equal opportunities to contribute plexity of UN peacekeeping operations international response to future global personnel. in the first decade of the new millen- and regional crises. In all its diversity, Fourth, we should follow the exam- nium. It emphasized the need to forge the United Nations will still be the main ple of Dag Hammarskjöld’s Summary a stronger political consensus, shift the forum for the international dialogue on Study, first published in 1958, and turn focus from quantity to quality and capa- peacekeeping, conflict prevention, and our scrutiny to the UN system itself bilities of troops, enhance the account- conflict resolution. and our working methods. It is encour- ability among the stakeholders of UN The United Nations is a cor- aging to see that the initiative to start peacekeeping, and develop a coherent nerstone of Sweden’s foreign policy. informal consultations with a view to strategy for the United Nations field Together with our fellow members of revising the working methods of the support system. the European Union, we welcomed the Special Committee, forwarded during The Brahimi Report and the New Brahimi Report and strongly support the Swedish Presidency of the European Horizon non-paper offered an encour- the further development of the New Union in 2009 and the Spanish aging direction, while honouring the Horizon initiative. The common ground Presidency in 2010, has received wide- spirit and letter of the Charter and that has now been reached needs to be spread support among UN Member reiterating the basic principles of UN consolidated and broadened. States. peacekeeping. The documents recog- First, the importance of protecting In conclusion, let us remember nize, as Hammarskjöld did with regard civilians must be acknowledged. The that Hammarskjöld’s overarching and to the United Nations as a whole, that success or failure to protect civilians primary commitment was to the evolu- UN peacekeeping is an imperfect but directly affects the credibility and legit- tion of the United Nations. Whether he indispensable instrument for the inter- imacy of UN peacekeeping operations, recognized it or not, he was the United national community. as well as their standing with popula- Nations able pilot on this journey. The increasing numbers of inter- tions in conflict areas. It is encourag- Hammarskjöld’s view that the United national actors, as well as the broader ing that the UN Member States rec- Nations embodied the “edge of devel- agenda, do not depreciate the role and ognized this circumstance during the opment of human society” and worked importance that the United Nations 2010 session of the Special Committee on the “brink of the unknown” remains plays in global peacekeeping. On the on Peacekeeping Operations of the an inspiring vision. unc

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