catalyst for the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa. 6 As expected, this contributed to greater rights and freedoms for the
populations of these states, and, particularly in Eastern Europe, allowed massive
economic recovery which might not have been possible without the
international organizations contributions to ensuring pace and stability.
Peacekeeping missions have also seen some success in ending post-Cold War conflicts, as was the case in Cote d’Ivore and Cambodia. 7 It is important to
acknowledge that Cambodia is not any more democratic or free due to UN
intervention, but peace has been restored in the region and the quality of life has improved significantly as a result of UN action. 8 Thus, it is hard to dispute
that the UN has had some success in the post-Cold War world, primarily through
encouraging peace, stability, and democracy in the wake of the fall of
communism.
These successes must be contrasted against some significant failures that
UN peacekeeping missions have experienced. A narrow view was often taken by
the UN that that military peacekeeping forces will solve issues without need for focus on underlying or root causes of conflict or suffering. 9 This is one reason
that the UN failed in Cambodia and Namibia, where stability was restored but
democracy quickly failed and economic recovery was ignored in favour of stable
authoritarianism. Had the UN focused on a wider array of issues rather than only restoring peace, this may have been avoided. 10 The same concepts can be applied to what are often considered the UN’s greatest failures 11 : genocides in
6 Kennedy, p. 93 7 David J. Whittaker, United Nations in Action (London: UCL Press, 1995), p. 215 8 Whittaker, p. 225 9 Phyllis Bennis, Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today’s UN (New York: Olive Branch Press, 2000), p. 83 10 Kennedy, p. 94; Bennis, p. 119 11 Efram R. Isely, United Nations Peacekeeping in the 21st Century (New York: Nova Science, 2010), p. 6
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