The United States votes to authorize every UN peacekeeping mission through its seat on the UN Security Council. Over the past two years, the U.S. has pushed and voted for new or expanded peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Darfur, Haiti, East Timor, and Chad, expanding the number of peacekeepers around the world to more than 100,000. The U.S. does not provide troops for UN peacekeeping missions, but rather a handful of military and policing experts. Other nations, notably from the developing world, provide most of the troops -- sharing the international security burden and keeping U.S. soldiers out of harms way.
A cost effective means of promoting global security:
Peacekeeping is cost effective. The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations has more than 100,000 troops and personnel deployed to 18 peace missions and 11 political missions around the world, all for a total budget of about $6 billion.
Peacekeeping means burden-sharing. The U.S. pays 26 percent of the UN's peacekeeping budget; other countries pick up the rest of the tab. Thus a 2006 General Accounting office (GAO) study concluded that UN peacekeeping is eight times less expensive than funding a U.S. force.
A sound investment:
UN Peacekeeping is “Effective.” The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) gave the U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping its highest-possible rating – three stars – judging the spending to be effective, achieving its stated goals, and contributing to U.S. objectives.
UN Peacekeeping has a record of success. In 2005, RAND reported that UN peacekeeping missions have a high record of success. The study found that of the eight UN-led cases it examined, seven were at peace.
Prevention of war and conflict in some of the world’s most volatile regions:
Peacekeeping promotes global political and economic stability. UN Peacekeepers deploy to prevent the outbreak of conflict, contain the spill-over of conflict across borders, assist in implementing peace agreements, stabilize conflict areas after a ceasefire, and help states transition to stable governments.
Peacekeeping prevents the spread of terrorism. UN Peacekeeping Missions do not just benefit the nations in which they are present. UN support of societies transitioning to stable, democratic governments makes us all more secure by reducing the likelihood that terrorist organizations can use these territories to train and recruit in post-conflict situations.
Peacekeeping reduces death from political violence. In 2005, The Human Security Report, a major international study on peace and war, judged that, contrary to popular belief, the global security climate improved dramatically between 1988 and 2001, with genocides and politicides plummeting 80 percent. The study attributed that decline to an increase in conflict prevention, peacemaking, and post-conflict activities, especially the number and complexity of UN peacekeeping missions. |
