April - May 2007 Volume 67, Number 2 SITREPSITREPA PUBLICATION OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN MILITARY I NSTITUTE DR WALTER DORN Dr. Walter Dorn illustrates INSIDE THIS ISSUE how technology may be brought to bear on the problems of peacekeeping. Canadian Peacekeeping: No Myth—But Not What It Once Was .......................................... 5 CANADIAN PEACEKEEPING: NO MYTH—BUT NOT WHAT IT ONCE WAS by Dr. Walter Dorn eacekeeping has become a part of the Canadian national just over 50 years ago. While UN observer missions existed prior identity. Its symbols are found on the national currency: to 1956, he made the key proposal for the UN’s first peacekeep- Pthe ten-dollar bill features a female soldier wearing a UN ing force. In the 1956 Suez crisis, the great powers France and blue beret looking through binoculars under a bilingual banner Britain, along with Israel, invaded Egypt, and then resisted US “Au Service de la paix / In the Service of Peace,” and the 1995 and UN demands for a withdrawal. Pearson’s proposal for a UN issue of the dollar coin features the National Peacekeeping Emergency Force (UNEF) broke the deadlock. Secretary-Gen- Monument, a prominent landmark in the nation’s capital. eral Dag Hammarskjöld then worked with Pearson to draw up a Most Canadians credit Canadian Foreign Minister (later plan for UNEF soldiers to be interposed between the Egyptian Prime Minister) Lester B. Pearson for “inventing peacekeeping” and invading forces, making it easier for the latter to withdraw. The first UNEF commander was Canadian LGen E.L.M. Dr. Walter Dorn is an Associate Professor at the Canadian Forces College (“Tommy”) Burns. For UNEF and other contributions, Pearson and the Royal Military College of Canada, as well as a faculty member of the won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. The creation of UNEF was Pearson Peacekeeping Centre. He is a scientist by training (Ph.D. Chemistry, one of the great moments in post-war Canadian foreign and de- Univ. of Toronto), whose doctoral research was aimed at chemical sensing for arms control. His interests now cover both international and human fence history. It was an unprecedented example of international security, especially peace operations and the United Nations. During a action that created a model for future operations. After 1956, sabbatical in 2006, the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations peacekeeping became a centre-piece of Canadian contributions commissioned him to conduct a study on the UN’s use of monitoring technologies. His papers can be found at www.cfc.dnd.ca/dorn. TYPE OF OPERATION MEANS AND METHODS UN OPERATIONS AND PURPOSE Missions in bold included Canadian military personnel; ongoing missions are underlined Observer Missions Monitoring through foot and vehicle UNTSO (Palestine), UNMOGIP (Kashmir), UNOGIL (Lebanon), Determine if parties are respecting a patrols, observation posts, checkpoints, etc. UNYOM (Yemen), DOMREP (Dominican Republic), UNIPOM cease-fire or peace agreements and Mostly uses UN military observers (India-Pakistan), UNIIMOG (Iran-Iraq), UNGOMAP assist in local dispute settlement (UNMOs) (Afghanistan/Pakistan), UNAVEM I (Angola), ONUCA (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras & Nicaragua), UNAVEM II (Angola), MINURSO (Western Sahara), UNAMIC (Cambodia), UNOMIG (Georgia/Abkhazia), UNOMUR (Uganda-Rwanda), UNOMIL (Liberia), ONUSAL (El Salvador), UNASOG (Chad), UNMOT (Tajikistan), UNMOP (Prevlaka/Croatia), MINUGUA (Guatemala), MONUA (Angola), MONUC (DR Congo) Inter-positional Forces Placing peacekeeping troops, mostly UNEF I (Egypt), UNFICYP (Cyprus), UNEF II (Egypt), UNDOF Prevent, stop or contain combat battalions, between combatants, using (Syria), UNIFIL (Lebanon), UNIKOM (Iraq/Kuwait), UNPREDEP between parties patrols, checkpoints (fixed or mobile), (Macedonia), UNMEE (Ethiopia/Eritrea) searches, escort, show of UN presence/force. Multidimensional Operations All of the above, plus: ONUC (DR Congo), UNTAG (Namibia), UNPROFOR (Bosnia, Oversee or assist in the - protection of assembly areas and civilians, Croatia), UNTAC (Cambodia), UNOSOM I & II (Somalia), implementation of a complex peace storage and destruction of surrendered ONUMOZ (Mozambique), UNMIH (Haiti), UNAMIR (Rwanda), agreement (which may involve weapons, escorts and protection of key UNAVEM III (Angola), UNMIBH (Bosnia), UNSMIH / UNTMIH / disarmament, demobilization and personnel/facilities, oversight of police MIPONUH / MINUSTAH (Haiti), MINURCA (CAR), UNPSG reintegration of former combatants, forces and other parts of the security sector, (Eastern Slavonia), UNAMSIL (Sierra Leone), UNAMA (Afghanistan), humanitarian assistance, electoral etc. UNMISET (Timor Leste) assistance, human rights, civilian - humanitarian aid convoys, road clearing, police, mine clearance, etc.) evacuation plans for vulnerable persons, Protect vulnerable populations securing sites and territory Uses military, civilian police and civilian personnel. Transitional Administrations Comprehensive missions covering all UNTEA (West Papua), UNSF (West Papua), UNTAES (Eastern Govern a territory during a transition aspects of society (from military to legal to Slavonia), UNMIK (Kosovo), UNTAET (East Timor) to independence and self-governance education to sanitation) Uses soldiers, police, civilians of all sorts Table 1. Four types/generations of UN peacekeeping operations.3 April - May 07 5 to the war-torn areas of the world, helping to prevent them from becoming major clashes between the superpowers. than any other nation to UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs). Furthermore,During Canada the was Cold a part War, of Canadaevery UN contributed PKO, the moreonly na-soldiers tion with such a record. By the time UN peacekeepers won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize, Canada had sent about 80,000 soldiers to UN operations, some 10 percent of the UN total. Canada be- came widely identified as a peacekeeping leader. Canada suffered the highest number of fatalities of any nation in UN missions.But Even this at contribution present, Canada came is at number a cost. During 2 on the the list Cold of War, UN fatalities (at 114 deaths in almost 60 years), exceeded only by India (at 121). On the tragic day of 9 August 1974 Canada experienced its largest single-day loss: nine Canadian peacekeepers died when their plane was shot down over Syria. August 9 is “Peacekeeping Day” in almost all Canadian prov- inces, a day to honour the sacrifice and celebrate the work of those who served in peacekeeping missions. This commemora- tion is due to the efforts of the Canadian Association of Veterans in UN Peacekeeping (CAVUNP). The organization also provides a means for former and current peacekeepers to get together, “to perpetuate the memories and deeds of fallen comrades,” and to sions (Middle East, Kashmir) to the peacekeeping forces (start- foster greater awareness about the ongoing work of peacekeepers. ing with Suez) to the multidimensional missions (Cambodia, Central America, many African missions) to transitional admin- participate in the new generation of “multidimensional” peace- istrations (Kosovo, Timor). Table 1 provides a summary list of all keeping missions,After thein which Cold Warsoldiers ended joined in 1989, with police,Canada humani- continued to the UN missions, grouped according to these four mission cat- tarian workers and many other types of civilians to deal with messy egories. Those in which Canada participated are in bold and the internal conflicts—a great challenge to Canada and the United ongoing missions are underlined. The list of missions in which Nations. Then, when the UN was given the even greater respon- Canada did not participate is short. sibility to govern territories like Kosovo and East Timor, Canada tion model for peacekeeping developed by the author to describe also lent a hand. Thus, Canada had a role in the evolution of four the evolution of peacekeeping. generations/types of missions: from the original observer mis- remained a top contributor (number one at times in 1991 and 1992). As theEven total after number the end of of UN the peacekeepersCold War, for a escalated half-decade dra- Canada matically in the early 1990s, up to a peak of 78,000 soldiers, Figure 1. Canadian uniformed personnel (military and police) in UN PKO, 1991–2006 4,000 Canada also reached its peak. In April 1993, some 3,300 Canadi- ans served under the UN flag, mostly in the former Yugoslavia 3,500 (UNPROFOR), Cyprus (UNFICYP), the Golan Heights (UNDOF) and Cambodia (UNTAC). But when UN peacekeep- 3,000 ing sagged in 1995-96, Canada’s contribution fell even more pre- 2 cipitously, as shown in Figure 1. The table uses a four-genera- UNPROFOR, UNFICYP, 2,500 UNDOF, UNTAC a top-ten position to 30th-35th position in the 2000s to 59th place 1 In 1997, Canada began a long relative decline: slipping from 2,000 today. The small humps and peaks in the 2000s are due to contri- Personnel butions to missions in Ethiopia-Eritrea (UNMEE) and Haiti 1,500 (MINUSTAH). The Canadian contribution took its most recent dive in March 2006, when the Conservative government with- 1,000 drew 190 soldiers from the Golan Heights (UNDOF). There have been no replacement missions. At present, Canada has only 141 uniformed peacekeepers in PKOs: 86 police and only 55 soldiers. 500 Canada is no longer in the league it once was: for much of peace- keeping history, Canada provided 10 percent of the UN’s forces. Currently it provides only 0.1 percent. This is a 0 cline! 6 SITREP1990 -Jan 1990-Jul 1991-Jan 1991-Jul 1992-Jan 1992-Jul 1993-Jan 1993-Jul 1994-Jan 1994-Jul 1995-Jan 1995-Jul 1996-Jan 1996-Jul 1997-Jan 1997-Jul steep decline, it is necessary 1998-Jan hundred-fold de- 1998-Jul to review the Canadian and To understand this 1999-Jan UNMEE UN experience in the first 1999-Jul half of the 1990s. This pe- 2000-Jan riod offered a great many 2000-Jul difficult and painful expe- 2001-Jan riences, and some potential 2001-Jul MINUSTAH lessons worth revisiting. In 2002-Jan 2002-Jul Somalia, a few unruly and 2003-Jan improperly disciplined Ca- 2003-Jul nadian soldiers in a unit 2004-Jan unfit for peacekeeping, 2004-Jul committed atrocities that 2005-Jan shocked the nation: they 2005-Jul tortured and killed a Somali 2006-Jan 2006-July thief and shot others.