Deployment of United Nations Peace Keeping Forces: The Nature of Transportation and Review of Current Methodologies.
Abstract
The United Nations, in its thirty-five years of existence, has launched about fourteen peace-keeping and observer operations all over the world. The most important aspect of establishing a peace-keeping force is the ability to transport the force from its location to the area of operation as quickly as possible. To date, the United Nations has continued to depend on ad hoc arrangements to deploy all its peace-keeping forces. This study analyses the various methodologies currently in use by the UN to determine their suitability for present and future employment. To highlight the various problems, three case studies--United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), 1956; United Nations Operations in the Congo (ONUC), 1960; and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), 1978--were selected for analysis. Some of the major points that came out of this study include: -- heavy dependence on the United States for air- and sealift of the UN force, -- waste of vital time due to questions of neutrality and incompatibility of resources, -- nonchalant attitude by countries capable of providing necessary transportation, and -- an increasing attempt by developing nations to be entirely self-supporting in transportation of their troops, sometimes to the possible detriment of the entire UN force. This study concludes that the current ad hoc arrangements for deployment of UN forces leave too much room for failure. Therefore, there is a need to examine alternative methods of providing neutral transportation assets for the UN to deploy peace-keeping forces. (author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA094437
Entities
People
- Anthony S. I. Ukpo
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College