2008 Woodie Awards
RSSU.N. policies discussed in video conference
By Paul Schweitzer
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
The United Nations can not change a nation in shambles into a civilized country overnight, U.S. Department of State official Douglas Wake said Tuesday.
Wake discussed the successes and challenges associated with past and present peacekeeping operations during a joint video conference, which included Lehigh, Seton Hall University, George Mason University and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
"There are three major issues in peacekeeping - capacity, money and sustainability," Wake said.
In terms of capacity, the U.N. does not have an army ready to deploy like many countries, Wake said. Instead, it must train peacekeepers and deploy them. Military equipment is also an important capacity issue.
Although the U.N. has a large budget, of which the U.S. supplies one-fourth, a large amount of the money is required to train new troops and purchase supplies. Sustainability becomes difficult because of budget constraints.
Wake mentioned further obstacles in the way of U.N. success. First, it is difficult to deploy peacekeepers to countries without consent from their government, Wake said. Also, the U.N. has to have realistic expectations that match available resources.
Today, major peacekeeping operations are taking place in western Sudan and eastern Chad. Wake discussed the continued conflict in Darfur between the Sudanese military and rebel groups, such as the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. According to an article by the U.N. News Service, an estimated 400,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict and 2 million more have been driven from their homes.
There are approximately 26,000 peacekeepers deployed right now, but there should be about 83,000 peacekeeping troops deployed eventually, Wake said. The operations authorize over 110,000 peacekeepers, but it is difficult to get that many stationed quickly. The U.N. has the most internationally deployed units of any other organization or nation, except the U.S., he said.
Wake discussed the successes and challenges associated with past and present peacekeeping operations during a joint video conference, which included Lehigh, Seton Hall University, George Mason University and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
"There are three major issues in peacekeeping - capacity, money and sustainability," Wake said.
In terms of capacity, the U.N. does not have an army ready to deploy like many countries, Wake said. Instead, it must train peacekeepers and deploy them. Military equipment is also an important capacity issue.
Although the U.N. has a large budget, of which the U.S. supplies one-fourth, a large amount of the money is required to train new troops and purchase supplies. Sustainability becomes difficult because of budget constraints.
Wake mentioned further obstacles in the way of U.N. success. First, it is difficult to deploy peacekeepers to countries without consent from their government, Wake said. Also, the U.N. has to have realistic expectations that match available resources.
Today, major peacekeeping operations are taking place in western Sudan and eastern Chad. Wake discussed the continued conflict in Darfur between the Sudanese military and rebel groups, such as the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. According to an article by the U.N. News Service, an estimated 400,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict and 2 million more have been driven from their homes.
There are approximately 26,000 peacekeepers deployed right now, but there should be about 83,000 peacekeeping troops deployed eventually, Wake said. The operations authorize over 110,000 peacekeepers, but it is difficult to get that many stationed quickly. The U.N. has the most internationally deployed units of any other organization or nation, except the U.S., he said.
