Impact of a complex 1990's peacekeeping operation. Case of Somalia.
Impact of a complex 1990 's peacekeeping operation.
Case of Somalia.
Peacekeeping has no one definition and has been evolving since the beginning of its existence, from the end of 1940’s. The end of Cold War opened up the doors for UN to take steps towards collective actions that had been handicapped for decades due to the ideological and self-interest differences of great powers. As a result, the number of peacekeeping operations and similar interventions increased significantly during the end of 1980’s and 1990’s. Furthermore, the missions started to change rapidly from minimal observing and monitoring to more complex multitasking operations with greater authority to involve and enforce certain rules in conflicts.
As the amount of operations as well as the responsibilities of the peacekeepers extended, the more difficult it was to comprehend, adapt and transform according to the specific needs and essence of the missions. Consequently, many errors were made that resulted in immeasurable disasters, the most horrifying ones in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Somalia. Each conflict revealed something additional that the missions were not prepared to. This paper seeks to analyze shortly the case of Somalia in the beginning of 1990s as the first mission where UN continued a peacekeeping mission in a country without a government and which consequently had deep rooted and extensive weaknesses and shortcomings. (Agada 31) The case of Somalia has been also called a “test laboratory for the UN post-Cold War peace- enforcement”. (Mahmood) The main focus will be on the mistakes that were made and what went wrong, as well as trying to identify the aspects that influenced the future peacekeeping operations the most.
Somalia had been facing tremendous difficulties for decades. Firstly the division of Somali people to different states, when European colonial times ended, followed by the state’s internal disputes turning into a civil war, end of the western countries attention
Case of Somalia.
Peacekeeping has no one definition and has been evolving since the beginning of its existence, from the end of 1940’s. The end of Cold War opened up the doors for UN to take steps towards collective actions that had been handicapped for decades due to the ideological and self-interest differences of great powers. As a result, the number of peacekeeping operations and similar interventions increased significantly during the end of 1980’s and 1990’s. Furthermore, the missions started to change rapidly from minimal observing and monitoring to more complex multitasking operations with greater authority to involve and enforce certain rules in conflicts.
As the amount of operations as well as the responsibilities of the peacekeepers extended, the more difficult it was to comprehend, adapt and transform according to the specific needs and essence of the missions. Consequently, many errors were made that resulted in immeasurable disasters, the most horrifying ones in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Somalia. Each conflict revealed something additional that the missions were not prepared to. This paper seeks to analyze shortly the case of Somalia in the beginning of 1990s as the first mission where UN continued a peacekeeping mission in a country without a government and which consequently had deep rooted and extensive weaknesses and shortcomings. (Agada 31) The case of Somalia has been also called a “test laboratory for the UN post-Cold War peace- enforcement”. (Mahmood) The main focus will be on the mistakes that were made and what went wrong, as well as trying to identify the aspects that influenced the future peacekeeping operations the most.
Somalia had been facing tremendous difficulties for decades. Firstly the division of Somali people to different states, when European colonial times ended, followed by the state’s internal disputes turning into a civil war, end of the western countries attention
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