Vincent J. Curtis
16 February 2016
It would be a waste of scare defense dollars for Canada to
return to UN peacekeeping in a major way.
With the election of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party,
noises have been heard in the media fondly recalling the days of UN
peacekeeping under previous Liberal governments. People not noted for their expertise in
foreign affairs think it right that Canada turn away from peace-making operations in Iraq and devote
itself instead to some ill-defined, sentimental UN mission somewhere like we
enjoyed in the 1970’s in the Middle East, or the 1990’s in Somalia and Bosnia.
Facts rarely get in the way of sentimentality. But let’s throw out a few facts anyhow. UN peacekeeping missions are now dominated by
countries of the third world. While this
arrangement certainly reduces racial tensions, there is also a financial
reason. Third world countries use UN peacekeeping
missions a means of paying part of their national armed forces. The UN pays peacekeepers in U.S. dollars at
western pay rates, and this income helps the home country a lot. In addition, UN peacekeeping missions provide
the opportunity for professional development of the armed forces of those third
world countries.
If Canada became deeply committed again to UN peacekeeping,
we would in effect be taking bread out of the mouths of third world countries
and depriving their armed forces of professional training opportunities.
Another reason offered for Canada to become involved again
in UN peacekeeping is to “spread Canadian values.” What exactly are those “values?” Well, Canadian values are Western values that
are Judeo-Christian in origin. Our
values are found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We believe in fair-play, decency, and being
“sporting.”
In a place like Afghanistan, that is 99 % Muslim, what is
the use in trying to spread “Canadian” values: Judeo-Christian, Western
values? Any Afghan that adopted them
would be killed as an apostate to Islam.
Any place in the world where peacekeeping would be useful are in places
torn by conflict that somehow involves Islam: Darfur, Northern Africa, the
Middle East, and decency in any of those places is looked upon as a sign of
weakness. If the world adopted Canadian
values, the world would become a better place; but exposure to Canadian values
in Afghanistan melted no hearts.
Another fact that routinely goes unnoted is that UN peacekeeping
tends to keep the underlying political problem from being solved. Look at Cyprus, for example. A UN peacekeeping mission has been present in
Cyprus since 1964. Nothing has changed,
and nothing will change.
We noticed in Bosnia that the presence of UN peacekeepers
were beneficial to the local economy, and whenever it seemed that peacekeepers
were pulling out, a few incidents were arranged to keep them in place. Peacekeeping tends to have the unintended
consequence of corrupting the political process that leads to a lasting
settlement. The pressure brought by
suffering, starvation, and death to make a political settlement is removed, and
the locals can nurse their grievances forever if they want.
Another problem with peacekeeping is that it places
undeserving pressure on the young soldiers on the ground. The rise of the “strategic corporal” that
started the theory of “The Three-Block War” turned on the actions of a 22 year
old that kept a deliberate provocation in a small, third world hell-hole from
blowing up into a major world political crisis.
This abdication of political responsibility by world leaders and placing
it upon the shoulders of a young, Junior NCO is plain wrong. What is remarkable is that worked on account
of the strong discipline of western armies.
But it failed in Somalia because of the neglect of the army by Canadian
politicians.
Which brings us to peacekeeping today. Though we think of ourselves as a young
country, Canada is one of the oldest established political regimes in the
world. We understand something about
governance that few other countries do.
We could do more for peace and decency in the world if we apply our
scarce defence and foreign aid dollars and our political capital judiciously on
the right leverage points.
The danger points in the world today are found in the
Ukraine, in the Baltics, in Iraq and Iran, and in North Korea. Iran is looking to violate the weapon
sanctions that have been placed upon her by the UN. North Korea is testing missiles and nuclear
explosives also in violation of UN sanctions.
Russia grabbed the Crimea in violation of an international treaty to
which it was a guarantor, and today continues to press in eastern Ukraine so
that it can obtain a direct land bridge to the Crimea. Russia is pressing NATO in the Baltics. ISIS threatens to destabilize more of the
Middle East and send more waves of refugees into Europe.
We need to conserve our political capital and defense power
for the important crises, the ones that directly affect us and our allies. A return to peacekeeping in a major way would
disperse those resources.
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