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Enhancing American Interests
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the United States authorizes every UN peacekeeping mission and contributes one quarter of its costs. For more than 60 years, the United States has provided critical resources and training for missions and worked with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to create every mandate.
Today, UN peacekeeping efforts serve key U.S. interests by:
• Sharing the burden. The United States cannot promote international security alone, nor should it be asked to do so. UN peacekeeping draws upon the economic and human resources of UN member countries to share the burden of collective security and reduce the need for unilateral intervention.
• Saving money. The UN continues to be the most cost-effective way to prevent conflict, keep the peace, and rebuild societies emerging from conflict. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, having the UN run the mission in Haiti was eight times less expensive than letting the United States run it alone. In fact, the UN pays the same to run its current 15 missions for a year as the U.S. pays to wage one month of war in Iraq.
• Preventing failed states. With the help of the United States, UN peacekeeping continues to prevent the collapse of weak states by supporting peace agreements, demobilizing combatants, facilitating humanitarian efforts, training police, and creating conditions for political reconciliation and elections. Fewer failed states mean fewer safe havens for terrorists – a boon for U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
• Promoting democratic governance. The promotion of democracy is a key U.S. foreign policy priority. UN peacekeeping operations provide security allowing elections to proceed freely and fairly; these operations also build capacity for sustainable governance and rule of law in fragile post-conflict states.
• Leveraging international legitimacy. Because of its diverse membership and their adherence to the UN Charter, UN peacekeeping operations enjoy a level of international legitimacy that unilateral and coalition efforts do not. As a permanent Security Council member, the United States is able to leverage that legitimacy in pursuit of America’s strategic national security interests.
The United States has supported every UN peacekeeping operation since the first in 1948 because of the important stabilization, recovery, and peacebuilding roles that the UN plays.
