Launch of the Peacekeeping Report “From Aspiration to Implementation”

Event Description

The United States fielded a very large military. Yet it ranked about 60th among UN member states in the personnel it contributed to UN peacekeeping, one speaker at the launch said. On Wednesday 19 October 2011, Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) launched the report U.S. Engagement in International Peacekeeping: From Aspiration to Implementation. The launch was at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and CGS took part as a member of the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping. The recordings on this page are 13 short excerpts from the launch, about 20 minutes in all. The recording above is Bob Enholm’s opening; the other excerpts are listed below.

Officials and advocates who responded backed the report’s recommendations. They called for paying peacekeeping dues in full and repealing the legal cap on the U.S. share. They wanted more U.S. police and military personnel serving with UN missions, and a larger UN standing police capacity. They also urged recruiting more women, and keeping U.S. military backup ready outside a mission’s country. Several speakers noted that UN peacekeeping costs far less than U.S. military operations. Victoria Holt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, said the report’s analysis and policy ideas help the administration.

Speakers

Bob Enholm, Executive Vice President, Citizens for Global Solutions; Victoria Holt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State; Peter Yeo, Better World Campaign; Ambassador Nancy Soderberg; Ariela Blätter; Don Kraus, CEO, Citizens for Global Solutions.

Titles are as of the event date.

Recordings

• Opening · Bob Enholm

  Enholm recalled the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to UN peacekeepers. He also recalled Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar’s words about forces used to prevent conflict rather than wage war. He said that vision still inspires the report.

• Women in peacekeeping · Victoria Holt

  Holt said the UN aimed to raise the number of women among its leaders, civilian police and military peacekeepers. She called this a priority that the United States shares.

• UN funding · Victoria Holt

  Holt said the work depends on the United States paying its full UN assessments, the dues the UN charges each member. It also depends on the administration seeking and receiving funding for peace operations and police training.

• On CGS · Victoria Holt

  Holt thanked Citizens for Global Solutions for leading the work on the report. She said its analysis and policy ideas help the administration.

• UN reform · Peter Yeo

  Yeo said advocates for UN funding must also press for efficiency. He pointed to the UN’s five-year global field support strategy. It was cutting spending on items such as aircraft leases and fuel.

• UN funding and peacekeeping · Peter Yeo

  Yeo argued that peacekeeping is both effective and cost effective. He cited a study by the RAND Corporation, a U.S. research organization. In it, seven of eight UN-led missions kept the peace, against four of eight U.S.-led ones. He urged paying dues on time and repealing the 25 percent cap.

• On the United Nations · Nancy Soderberg

  Soderberg noted that the UN had about 120,000 personnel deployed, against about 140,000 for the United States. She said the United States pays about $2 billion a year toward a roughly $7 billion cost. She called walking away from the UN a mistake.

• On the report · Nancy Soderberg

  Soderberg called the report a blueprint for where UN peacekeeping stands and needs to go. She said senior policymakers at the UN and in the U.S. government should read it.

• Peacekeeping deployment · Nancy Soderberg

  Soderberg urged realistic mandates and a closing of the UN’s capability gap. She noted that the United States had only 25 military personnel in UN missions. She backed regional training centers able to deploy up to 20,000 troops quickly.

• Women in peacekeeping · Ariela Blätter

  Blätter said women made up about 4 percent of uniformed peacekeepers. She urged the Defense Department to create incentives for women to serve. She pointed to Liberia and South Africa as examples of what women add and how to recruit them.

• The peacekeeping initiative · Ariela Blätter

  Blätter urged reviving the 2009 presidential peacekeeping initiative. The aim was to turn words into more U.S. police, staff officers and troops in UN missions.

• Train and equip · Don Kraus

  Kraus described the report’s call for U.S. help in training and equipping other countries’ peacekeepers. It also called for more U.S. personnel at UN headquarters and in the field. And it called for U.S. military backup ready outside a mission’s country, as the United States provided in Liberia in 2003.

• Police capacity · Don Kraus

  Kraus traced the growth of UN police functions. The report asked the United States to help double the UN’s standing police capacity, then 41 officers in Brindisi, Italy. It also asked for at least three times as many rule-of-law experts.

Policy Focus

U.S. engagement in and funding of United Nations peacekeeping. The speakers pressed for paying dues on time and in full, and for repealing the 25 percent legal cap. They wanted a larger U.S. contribution of police and military personnel and a stronger UN standing police and justice capacity. They also sought a place for more women in peacekeeping.

See also: the 2012 panel on the same report with three Americans who served in UN missions.

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