1st Edition

United Nations Peacekeeping in the Post-Cold War Era

By John Terence O'Neill, Nick Rees Copyright 2005
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    This new study questions whether peacekeeping fundamentally changed between the Cold War and Post-Cold War periods.

    Focusing on contrasting case studies of the Congo, Cyprus, Somalia and Angola, as well as more recent operations in Sierra Leone and East Timor, it probes new evidence with clarity and rigour.  

    The authors conclude that most peacekeeping operations - whether in the Cold War or Post-Cold War periods - were flawed due to the failure of the UN member states to agree upon achievable objectives, the precise nature of the operations and provision of the necessary resources, and unrealistic post-1989 expectations that UN peacekeeping operations could be adapted to the changed international circumstances. The study concludes by looking at the Brahimi reforms, questions whether these are realistically achievable and looks at their impact on contemporary peace operations in Sierra Leone, East Timor and elsewhere.

    1. Introduction 2. Peacekeeping in the Cold War / Post-Cold War 3. ONUC and the Congo, 1960-1964 4. UNFICYP and Cyprus, 1964- 5. UNOSOM and Somalia, 1992-1995 6. UNAVEM and Angola, 1988-1997 7. UN Peacekeeping: Lessons Learnt? 8. The Future of UN Peacekeeping

    Biography

    John Terence O'Neill is a former Colonel in the Irish Defence Forces, who has served on UN missions in the Congo (1961), Lebanon (1982-83) and Angola (1993), and recently completed a PhD at Trinity College Dublin. Nicholas Rees is Dean of Graduate Studies and Jean Monnet Professor of European Institutions and International Relations at the University of Limerick. He is the co-author of Ireland's Poor Relations: Irish Foreign Policy Towards the Third World.

    'John Terence O'Neill and co-author Nicholas Reese put forward no-nonsense recommendations'  - Politique Internationale