PEACEKEEPING. Historical Overview

Transcription

1 PEACEKEEPING Historical Overview Peacekeeping is a technique developed under the aegis of the United Nations to help control armed conflicts. Traditionally, peacekeeping relied on monitoring ceasefires, troop withdrawals, creating buffer zones and aiding political settlement. However, post Cold War, the notion of peacekeeping has evolved in tandem with an expanded notion of collective security that includes economic, political and environmental issues. This shift is reflected in second generation peacekeeping operations which have evolved into more intensive and multi-dimensional peacebuilding, as seen in the United Nations An Agenda for Peace (1992). The United Nations definition of peacebuilding thus includes and incorporates nonmilitary elements designed to foster democratic institutions, the rule of law, economic recovery, a functional police and judiciary and a free and fair electoral process as well as reforming and strengthening governmental institutions and human rights protection as well. International peacekeeping thus has come a long way from the first armed United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) which was deployed in Egypt in Involvement by the two focus countries India and China are among the key troop and personnel contributors in UN peacekeeping missions. India is on the third place behind Bangladesh and Pakistan with a total annual employment of 8,115 personnel in the month of December China ranks sixteen in terms of personnel cooperation, which is the highest of any permanent member of the UN Security Council (2011). China Since the 1990s China has transformed from a staunch opponent of peacekeeping operations to one of the main troop-contributing countries. The increase has been attributed to political, economic and military reasons. Politically, it is a core interest of the Chinese government to increase its image as responsible power on the global stage and participation in peacekeeping missions is one of the key areas identified to achieve this goal. Secondly, the vast majority of peacekeeping missions are based in African countries, many of which entertain close economic and trade relations with Chinese companies and investors (Bi 2011). Stability in countries, such as Sudan or Congo therefore represents a core interest for successful economic cooperation. Lastly, the Chinese military and naval forces have traditional not acquired much experience in overseas and foreign missions. Peacekeeping missions as well as antipiracy cooperation provide peaceful opportunities to expose and train the PLA and the navy in relation to foreign missions and other militaries. Today China ranks fourteen in terms of personnel cooperation, which is the highest of any permanent member of the UN Security Council. In the past twenty years China has deployed over 15,600 personnel under the flag of 18 separate UN missions. So far China has been hesitant to employ actual combat forces in peacekeeping operations; instead it has focused on police personnel and observers. Notably, it has been very active in the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. It furthermore has been increasingly active in people-topeople exchanges with other troop contributing countries and taken part in joint trainings. A breakthrough in public awareness of Chinese peacekeeping followed the mission to Haiti and the death of several Chinese peacekeepers. Chinese views on peacekeeping have been increasingly positive, due to growing confidence in the country s foreign policy-making skills, concerns about [ ] American unipolarity, the need to bolster traditional peacekeeping practices based on consent and respect for sovereignty and increasing enthusiasm about multilateralism (Hirono 2011; Pang 2005). p. 1 of 5 as of:

2 Officially, even combat force contributions have been under discussion since December In the Chinese public the issue became the top of the headlines when eight martyrs four civilian police and four visiting officials were killed in the peacekeeping mission in Haiti in January The Haiti mission furthermore demonstrated a less punitive approach on the Chinese side, since Haiti had never recognized the PRC and maintained ties with the Taiwanese government. The epistemic community around the study of peacekeeping has also witnessed a sharp increase over the past few years. There is a growing corpus of literature, supplemented by several landmark conferences, such as in Beijing in 2009 and the SIPRI-IFS conference on China in peace support operations in 2010 (Hirono 2011: 246). India Recent debates show there is an increasing trend towards the participation in peacekeeping to fulfill international political aspirations. Competition with economically advanced countries like Germany and Japan for gaining a permanent seat in the Security Council is often cited as a reason to improve India s international credibility through participation in PKO (Krishnasamy & Weigold, 2003). It is also seen as a tool to improve bilateral and multilateral relations A blend between the larger goal of peacekeeping and narrower goal of bilateral relations (Nambiar, 2011). In this regard, the Joint Working Group between US and India is seen as an instance of the first institutionalized bilateral dialogue for logistical support, training and command structure. In fact, learning enhanced military and operational skills in handling the humanitarian aspects of war, access to state of the art military hardware of other armies and learning joint operational procedures is often cited as a clear benefit of participating in peacekeeping. There is a self perception of India as a global peacekeeper, reflected in its consistency and size of participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). Reliability as a peacekeeper is often highlighted in international and national writings on the subject (See, Pant, 2000; Thakur, 2006; Nambiar, 2011). India has been singled out as having one of the longest and most consistent records of participation in UNPKO, from amongst other third world peacekeepers (Bullion 1997). Two aspects of India s approach to peacekeeping can thus be observed. First, it still aims to steer a middle path as part of its non alignment approach and is not keen to violate sovereignty norms, i.e. participation only if the state consents. The Role of the UN must be based on impartiality, equity and non interference (IANS 2011). Secondly, there is indeed a selectivity criterion when it comes to participation in UNPKO, for example India declined to participate in the conflict in East Timor which was on the question of ethnic separatism, as it resonates closer to home. Research State of the Art China In the present debate on peacekeeping in the Chinese context several strands emerge. In the public discourse short-term successes, common trainings and contemporary missions to Liberia, Lebanon and Haiti are in the focus of attention. In the academic debate questions about the ideological underpinning of peacekeeping policies and the prospects and legitimacy of peacebuilding activities play a focal role. The government places the principles of sovereignty and non-interference at the top of the hierarchy (Pan 2010). A report by the International Crisis Group stated that for China the consent of the host country government is a necessary prerequisite for its involvement in any peacekeeping operations (International Crisis Group 2009). In June 2011 the journal International Peacekeeping devoted an entire issue to China s Evolving Approach to Peacekeeping. Using the framework of the contradicting and overlapping perspectives on China s international position as a great power, [...] a middle p. 2 of 5 as of:

3 power and thatof a developing, non-western country a collection of articles analyses the nature of China s peacekeeping (Hirono 2011: 245). The authors argue that academic discourses are crucial for understanding the issue of peacekeeping, since there is an increasing openness of Chinese foreign policy-making to analysts, who thus have the power to exercise policy influence. In the following three perspectives in the nascent debate on peacekeeping in the Chinese academia are sketched: a vast majority identify Chinese involvement in peacekeeping as core strategy of the country s global engagement as a responsible actor (Huang 2011; Pan 2011: 4), while furthermore rationalizing peacekeeping involvement through history and a paternalistic worldview (Suzuki 2011). On the other hand several scholars emphasize on the more operational side of peacekeeping and how the Chinese organizational structure could be a model for other countries to follow (Wang 2011). In Principles and Practices of China s Peacekeeping the two pillars of China s Global Peace Engagement Strategy are identified as UN peacekeeping operations and international peacebuilding operations. The author shows himself as cautious about the long-term prospects of Chinese engagement in existing peacekeeping institutions (Huang 2011). Tracing peacekeeping back to historical factors Suzuki deals with the influence of paternalistic Chinese discourses, which allow China to participate in intrusive peacekeeping (2011). Using the quasi-official annual CASS-publication China Modernization Report, the author identifies this paternalism to be rooted in the discourse on modernization and a subsequent hierarchical worldview. In line with the increasing involvement of Chinese police forces Wang argues that participation in peacekeeping operations could then provide mobile strategic resources and effective channels for international security mechanisms (Wang 2011). Academics outside of China have either focused on the more military side peacekeeping operations, such as several researchers at the UC San Diego (Gill/Huang 2009), or on the role peacekeeping missions play for China s increasing role in the international system (Karlsson 2011; Pang 2005). India All debates in India reiterate that its pro active commitment to UNPKO is motivated by great power ambitions, to enhance its international identity and image (Pant, 2000; Mistry, 2010). The motivations behind peacekeeping thus, are clearly for an increased role in global politics. Since the end of the cold war, there has been an expansion in India s United Nations agenda, where it has readily shown support for global norms like environmental management, human rights and sustainable development. It is as part of this agenda that India s UNPK commitments have increased in the post cold war era. As Prime Minister Gujral said in his address to the UN assembly, as a country that places very great store on the UN s capacity to contribute to international peace and security (and peacekeeping activities)... India has vital interests in the UN (Krishnasamy/Weigold 2003). In the aftermath of the Brahimi Report there has been a critical assessment of India s role in peacekeeping ( Sidhu, 2011), looking at negative and positive drivers behind participation in International Peace Keeping Operations (IPKO). While the positive drivers include aspirations for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the desire to be seen as a responsible global actor, peacekeeping is instrumentalized for sustaining India s position as an emerging power as well as negotiating for greater role in the UN system. Strategic national interests in securing peace in regions such as Africa and Afghanistan, accompanied by renewed assertions of soft power are particularly stressed. Negative drivers are that the economic boom of the 2000s has largely alleviated the financial benefits derived from participation in UN peacekeeping. Life losses during peacekeeping operations as well as charges of corruption, and even criminality, levied at peacekeeping forces abroad are a recurring concern. p. 3 of 5 as of:

4 In conclusion, participating in peacekeeping operations is neither a politically contentious issue, nor a constitutionally complicated exercise in India. It is not a subject of divisive public debate as the widespread perception is that peacekeeping permits India to reconcile the potential tension between commitment to international idealism and requirements of national security. Academic writings however point that India s peacekeeping role is paradoxical (Krishnasamy/Weigold 2003). As a result of foreign policy ambitions, India actively participates in peace missions abroad but firmly opposes any UN interference in Kashmir, even if that involves a mere observation mission. Peacekeeping is however seen as a bargaining tool to both participate and gain a decision making power in multilateral governance systems. Thus all internal commentators exhort that policy makers should look at political cost benefit analysis, rather than just security risk assessment, when deciding to participate in peacekeeping operations. Conclusion Participation in international peacekeeping missions not only challenges national governments to assess their positions within the international system, but also requires them to clearly outline their definitions of sovereignty, non-interference and core interests. At the same time, peacekeeping operations provide opportunities for the national security infrastructures of China, India and the EU to interact on various levels. For the research goal of the NFG Asian Perceptions of the EU, the case study of peacekeeping operations, therefore, provides an ideal arena to test and explore ideas and mechanisms of norm transfer between international actors. Selected Resources: 2011: Ranking of Military and Police Contributions to UN Operations, December 2011, in: Bi, Jianxiang 2011: Limited Sovereignty: Chinese Peacekeeping Operations in Africa, in: China and the European Union in Africa: Partners Or Competitors? Bullion, Alan 1997: India and UN Peacekeeping Operations, in: International Peacekeeping 4: 1, Gill, Bates/Huang, Chin-Hao 2009: China's Expanding Role in Peacekeeping. Prospects and Policy Implications (November/2009), Stockholm. Hirono, Miwa; Marc Lanteigne 2011: Introduction: China and UN Peacekeeping, in: International Peacekeeping 18: 3, Huang, Chin-Hao 2011: Principles and Praxis of China's Peacekeeping, in: International Peacekeeping 18: 3, IANS 2011: India cautions against premature withdrawal of UN missions, in: Economic Times, 13 October. InternationalCrisisGroup 2009: China's growing role in UN peacekeeping, in: Asia Report 166. Karlsson, Krister 2011: China and Peacekeeping: Contributions to UN Peace Operations from and the Theory of Offensive Realism, Uppsala, Sweden. Krishnasamy, Kabilan/Weigold, Auriol 2003: The Paradox of India s Peacekeeping, in: Contemporary South Asia 12: 2, Mistry, Dinshaw (2010), A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of India as an Emerging p. 4 of 5 as of:

5 World Power, India Review, 3 (1) Nambiar, Satish (2011), UN Peacekeeping and India s National Strategy Lecture at Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi Pan, Zhongqi 2010: Managing the conceptual gap on sovereignty in China-EU relations, in: Asia-Europe Journal 2010: 8, Pan, Zhongqi 2011: Defining China's Role in the International System, in: ISPI Analysis May 2011: 55. Pang, Zhongying 2005: China's Changing Attitude to UN Peacekeeping, in: International Peacekeeping 12: 1, Pant, N.K. (2000), India s Peacekeeping Missions, Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Sidhu (2011), New Horizons and Old Problems for UN Peacekeeping, organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Berlin, July 2011 Suzuki, Shogo 2011: Why Does China Participate in Intrusive Peacekeeping? Understanding Paternalistic Chinese Discourses on Development and Intervention, in: International Peacekeeping 18: 3, Thakur, Ramesh (2006), India and UNPKO, Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Wang, Hong-Hai 2011: On the Development of China's Peacekeeping Operation, in: Journal of Chinese People's Armed Police Force Academy 27: 3. p. 5 of 5 as of: