United Nation Peacekeeping in Africa After the Cold War - Book Report/Review Example

 United Nation Peacekeeping in Africa after the Cold War Summary During the 1960s, the UNO was unable to keep the peace at the Belgian Congo and presently the organization is undergoing the same problem nearly 40 years later. Congo is one of the countries where UNO failed to maintain peace throughout the cold war. This research will investigate in the ways how UNO operated in Mozambique, Angola, Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Taylor and Williams 195). Finally, when the cold was over there was a great hope for Africa, and it was believed that UNO would be able to bring peace in the continent. The efforts being made to bring peace were promising as out of a total of forty-two major projects created; seventeen of them were directed towards Africa (Taylor and Williams 195). However, success alone does not lie on the amount of projects created and recent history shows some of the factors like acceptance of electoral results by all the parties involved and creating a strategy to handle the trouble makers in the area contributed more towards prosperity in African lands (Taylor and Williams 196). Some other factors like maximizing the use of economic resources and getting help from the regional players plus the army and security forces of the troubled nation was also crucial. There were a much more realistic chance to attain and maintain peace if all of the parties cooperated and worked for it (Taylor and Williams 196). In Mozambique, the situation was quite different. The government was in a direct war with rebels in the country that had resulted in thousands of killings from both sides. They were unable to sit and discuss the situation until meetings were arranged in foreign lands. UNO intervened and made the President of Mozambique sign a contract with the rebel groups that would result in elections within one year. The UN mission in Mozambique began in 1992 and consisted of 7,000 military and staff officials. It cost more than $1 million every day (Taylor and Williams 198). The rebels broke the ceasefire and captured some towns. Dhlakama, the leader of the rebel group RENAMO, failed to cooperate with the UNO and boycotted the elections. He complained he was not receiving enough funds (Taylor and Williams 199). In regards to Angola, the UNO intervened again and in 1988 made Cuba sign a peace treaty with Angola. The peace treaty would see the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola among many other things (Taylor and Williams 199). Unlike in Mozambique, the UN was able to hold fair elections in Angola that resulted in the victory of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. The military leader of Angola, Savimbi, refused to accept the victory. He looked to strengthen his army and went against the peacemaking policy of UNO. He exported diamonds to buy arms and ammunition and build his army. Government officials killed Savimbi in 2002, and that was considered a great progress into the political arena of Angola (Taylor and Williams 200). After his execution, the UNO has managed to create a peace deal with the government but problems are still present in Angola. A large percentage of the ex-combatants are yet to receive salary and Angolans in hundreds and thousands are to be accommodated (Taylor and Williams 200). UNO faced great challenge of keeping peace in Somalia. The country was divided between two very powerful landlords who looked to take control of the country in bits and pieces. Prices of commodities like food and clothing were rapidly rising, and there was an increase in the number of deaths resulting from starvation. When UNO was assigned the job of peacekeeping, they employed some 500 people to make sure that food reached the people (Taylor and Williams 200). Things did not go as expected in Somalia as some of the landlords were feeling powerless to the strategy implemented by the UNO. When people were left without food, it gave more power to the landlords as they could dictate their terms. UNO kept the landlords out from the picture. One of the major landlords, Farah Aideed became nuisance to the country and later became the prime target of the US army. In one confrontation with the US army, more than a thousand local people from Somalia lost their lives. UNO could not do anything about it (Taylor and Williams 202). Rwanda was under a threat of collapsing mainly from the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) who was a minority that was expelled by Juvenal Habyarimana. They had invaded Rwanda in 1990 and demanded that things be run from their terms and conditions. However, UNO arranged a meeting so that an agreement could be made between the government and RPF so that the locals of Rwanda could live in peace. The agreement also contained that no civilian would be allowed to carry any illegal arms (Taylor and Williams 202). The UNO arrived late in the country. They penetrated that arms and ammunition were being smuggled in the country and found it very hard to stop it. In 1994, Habyarimana was assassinated. Over a period of next few months about a million people were assassinated and many taken hostage. UNO could not do anything despite the agreement they had to bring peace in the country. The RPF had captured the whole of Rwanda, and the UN was forced to recall their armies (Taylor and Williams 203). Sierra Leone also suffered from the same problems like did Rwanda. The rebels conquered the country and destroyed it with the backing of Liberia. The rebels known as the RUF wanted nothing less than their recognition in Sierra Leone. The Lome peace agreement was drafted in which UNO decided to give RUF proper recognition by recognizing them as a legal, political party in Sierra Leone (Taylor and Williams 204). However, it was not only about power. Sierra Leone was surrounded with the riches of the world like diamonds and RUF wanted control of that (Taylor and Williams 204). RUF continued their crimes of attacking the military and all the forces that look to deprive them of their rights of controlling the trade of diamonds. The UNO found it impossible to negotiate with them, and things only got out of control. Diamonds were being illegally transferred and exported to other countries to fund money that was used for weapons. Till this day, the country suffers from rebels trying to find a stake in the country’s political system and an abundance of natural resources (Taylor and Williams 205). Congo was also affected by the actions of rebellions and opposition leaders. When Laurent Kabila assumed power in the 1997, it angered little opposition, and they immediately opposed the decision. The country was left in a state of confusion. Just like Sierra Leone, Congo is also blessed with rich minerals and this resulted in political leaders to establish their power and claim their stake. In 2001 Laurent Kabila was assassinated and soon his son took over the country (Taylor and Williams 207). Rwanda and Uganda had also captured some parts of the country, but the UNO intervened. The country was already facing a lot of tension from within the country, and the UNO answered to the call. Rwanda withdrew in 2002 and Uganda in 2003. However, when the soldiers belonging to the Uganda army left they slaughtered hundreds of locals from Congo (Taylor and Williams 208). The National Security called for UNO to make sure that proper security is provided to the people of Congo, so such incidents are not repeated in future. UNO is yet to respond on such issues (Taylor and Williams 208). Analysis There were mostly similar sorts of crime in nearly all of these African countries. Rebel or opposition groups created problems. The main concern is that UNO has not been able to do anything about it. There are a few causes for this. UNO could help to avoid many problems in Africa and restore peace if they successfully manage to deliver in time, change their agenda of free and fair elections and most importantly secure the natural resources, which every local political party tries to claim as theirs. The UNO has always responded a little late. In almost all the missions it created for these six countries, and the UNO failed to reach on time. When a peaceful pact was made, UNO found it hard to deliver. For example, UNO arrived almost two months late in Rwanda. UNO had assured the government officials that it would do everything to disarm the people carrying illegal weapons, but it could not deliver what it promised as trading in arms had already started before they arrived. INO had made the two opposition parties sign the agreement and took responsibility so the organization should have tried to lead from the front. UNO always looks to emphasize on elections. Although that is the right way to go about things, the condition in African countries is very complicated. The African countries are not affected by only civil war or war among local political parties, but neighboring and other foreign countries also pressurize them. At one time, Congo was controlled by both Rwanda and Uganda. Moreover, there was the influence from European countries as well who were interested in minerals that the country was blessed with. Under this sort of pressure, it is always very hard to hold fair elections. Efforts in conducting elections have resulted in more killing in these countries, and the UNO must try first to get hold of the situation and then try to conduct fair elections. One other thing that the UNO must do is to secure the natural resources in these countries. Most of the political parties and other neighboring countries of these African nations are mostly interested in jewels like diamonds. The UNO together with the National Security should try to ward off power hungry politicians from these resources. Billions of dollars are spent on stationing hundreds and thousands of soldiers in these parts of Africa, and it would be a better idea to spend more in protecting the natural resources of these countries. However, this is very hard to do as UNO has very little authority over the natural resources of other nations but a special permission could be attained to protect the lives of thousands of civilians that belong to these countries. This special permission would at least stop illegal exports of diamonds and imports of illegal guns into these parts of the world. Works Cited Taylor, Ian and Paul Williams. Africa in International Politics: External Involvement on the Continent. New York: Psychology Press, 2004 . Read More