Peacekeeping or peacemaking? War, Conflict and Canadian Participation in Peacekeeping

CANADA’S ROLE IN PEACEKEEPING Participation in international ventures, such as the Korean War, allowed Canada to take an active role in world affairs, but these undertakings did not fully meet the needs of Canadian foreign policy. Canada had not yet found a comfortable role in which to exercise its middle-power status. Canada also faced the problem of avoiding too great an American influence on its foreign policy. Ultimately, however, the role that Canada created for itself was that of mediator and peacemaker. Canada became recognized for its efforts to use quiet diplomacy to resolve international disputes. In addition, these efforts to broker peace agreements were accompanied by a willingness to participate in UN peacekeeping missions with military force. Between 1947 and the present, Canada has participated in almost 40 UN peacekeeping missions. More than 100,000 soldiers have served as peacekeepers.

Peacekeeping and the Canadian Identity After Suez, and the winning of the Nobel Peace Prize by Lester Pearson, Canadians came to feel that peacekeeping was part of the Canadian identity. But the heyday of peacekeeping was in decline. Some critics were already beginning to complain that peacekeeping kept situations static and did nothing to resolve them. Others worried about the costs and casualties, and were concerned with often unclear mandates. The idea of peacekeeping had helped to reinforce the image of Canada as an impartial and acceptable observer, but peacekeeping fell out of favour for a time in Canada. By the 1980’s, however, both the Trudeau and Mulroney governments seemed willing to consider new requests for troops more favourably; for Canadian service personnel, however, peacekeeping had become a chore rather than an opportunity

Types of Peacekeeping The United Nations pursues two main forms of peacekeeping: UNMOs (United Nations Military Observers) are sent to observe and report the status of a truce; these observers are generally unarmed and their force is essentially moral Combat Units are deployed in a ceasefire zone between two conflicting forces. The presence of such troops is intended to give additional stability to a ceasefire. The troops come from countries not involved in the dispute, and their job is to enforce the ceasefire terms. Then peaceful can be found through diplomacy and negotiation

Peacekeeping and the Canadian Identity In the early 1990’s, the end of the Cold War and the demise of Soviet influence in international affairs left power vacuums throughout the world. Without the unity of Soviet military authority, many of the former Soviet states, notably Yugoslavia, disintegrated into ethnic conflict. The UN responded with mixed results in order to bring some form of military peace as well as well as humanitarian aid. Canada has played a role in most UN operations, making up about 10% of the total peacekeeping forces. As of 1999, Canadian peacekeepers were active in Croatia, Bosnia, Haiti and several other trouble spots.

Peacekeeping (CBC News in Review - November 2000) As you watch Peacekeeping in the New Millennium create jot notes which answer the questions listed below. According to this video, what problems have impacted and will continue to impact the role of peacekeeping in the new millennium?

Today, has Canada abandoned its role as UN Peacekeeper? Canadians have always been under the impression that our country is one of the top contributors to United Nations peacekeeping missions. While this was true for just over 40 years (since Lester Pearson conceived of peacekeeping in 1956) it is no longer the case. Canada now ranks 19th among troop-contributing countries in UN peacekeeping missions. Since 1956, with the exponential increase in the number of UN peacekeeping missions, Canada could be counted on to be among the leaders in troop contributions to those missions. Canadian generals, like Romeo Dallaire, have done us proud as commanders of UN missions. Indeed, Canada maintained a top 10 ranking among UN peacekeeping nations until recently.

Today, has Canada abandoned its role as UN Peacekeeper? Not only is the Canadian public unaware of our lowly place among the ranks of UN peacekeepers, it has been confused about our mission in Afghanistan. That mission was not a UN peacekeeping mission. Approximately 2500 Canadian Forces personnel were deployed in Kandahar – a mission to end the remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. This Canadian contingent took over the Kandahar operations from the U.S. and is thus viewed by many Afghans as simply a continuation of the U.S. mission in that part of the country. This mission has become a confusing one for Canadians and Afghans. While the members of our military personnel in Kandahar are intent on laying the foundations for building sustainable peace, they are assisting U.S. forces in search-and-destroy missions in “Operation Enduring Freedom.” Is peacekeeping still an important part of the Canadian identity?

Canada and Afghanistan Canadian forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan. Today 950 military trainers remain in Afghanistan until 2014. Their intended role is transfer power to the Afghan police and military, but the strength of these groups is questionable. A total of 158 Canadians have been killed in Afghanistan. The future of Afghanistan still hangs in the balance.

Peacekeeping and the Canadian Identity Read page 38 and answer the C&C question at the bottom of the page (watch CBC Archives Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Somalia) Read page 39 and answer the HS question concerning Afghanistan Just as your personal identity evolves as you mature, so does the identity of a country. Therefore, do you think Canadians should still consider peacekeeping to be an integral part of our national identity?