UN Role in Civil Conflict

50th Session Issues

UN Role in Civil Conflict

by
Karyn Becker

"Civil conflict" is not an explicit term as defined by any U.N. resolution. Rather, it is a phrase intended to encompass the many types of strife which occur within the geographical boundaries of a single sovereign country. Referring to these conflicts as "civil wars" or "internal strife" does not detract from the seriousness of the problems countries that are embroiled in them face. Rather, the vague and changing terminology appropriately expresses the arduous task the international community faces in confronting a problem that is quite difficult to accurately define. Recent examples of areas experiencing civil conflict include Kosovo, Dagestan, and East Timor, all of which are provinces or states within a larger country. These examples are only the well known, media-saturated conflicts, which tend to receive publicity which is proportionately excessive compared to the scope of the conflict. However, with the exception of Antarctica, there is not a single continent that does not have a country experiencing an internal conflict of some kind: Mexico, Peru, Angola, Russia, Indonesia, and Yugoslavia are but a handful of these countries which span the globe.

As we verge on a new millennium, we leave behind the bloodiest century ever known to mankind. Some 110 million people were killed in conflicts between 1899 and 1995, according to the Worldwatch Institute. Early in the century, these conflicts were primarily battles involving nations and empires, where combatants were frequently killed. As the century progressed, the battles became smaller and more localized. Individual countries in Africa, Southern Europe, Latin America, and Asia have devolved into bastions of ethnic intolerance, tribal division, religious separation, and nationalism, leading to internal strife. As these conflicts have occurred with increasing frequency in the 1990's, the combatants have shifted their targets. Instead of attacking soldiers in well armed military units, the trend has been to attack innocent, unarmed civilians who often live next door to those who would see them killed. In the past half-century, two of the largest armed conflicts were civil wars in Africa. More than one million people died during Mozambique's 15+ year civil war, with civilians making up 95% of that death toll. A long running civil war in the Sudan has taken the lives of more than 1.5 million people, an astonishing 97% of whom were civilians.2 This conflict continues today.

The predictable result of this shift is an immense insecurity among the people in those countries affected by internal conflict. In the midst of the disruptive and often deadly internal strife, fulfilling the basic goals of obtaining food, clothing, and shelter - along with avoiding the insidious threat to their very lives - has become a vital necessity for civilian population and humanitarian aid workers. In this type of volatile situation, where intervention from an outside source may seem the only option for halting a spiral of violence, the problem may be compounded or ameliorated by such action. In the ethnic clash of 1994 between Rwanda's Tutsi and Hutu tribes, there remains much speculation that U.N. intervention prior to the eruption of killings might have prevented the genocide entirely. French Major General Romeo Dallaire, the U.N. Commander in Rwanda prior to and during the massacres, apparently warned his superiors at U.N. headquarters in New York (including Kofi Annan, head of Peacekeeping Operations at that time) about weapons that were being stockpiled and names of Tutsi being compiled in an apparent plan to kill them. Dallaire's request to raid the arms caches was denied as being "beyond the scope of the mission, which was "peacekeeping" - no offensive actions permitted. He continues to believe that a stronger, more fully prepared U.N. force could have prevented the onset of the hostilities had they been sent in to collect the arms prior to the outbreak of violence. The high-level decision not to intervene, or even seek a revision to the peacekeeping mandate, spelled gruesome death for several hundred thousand Tutsi and moderate Hutu in the spring of 1994. In the Sudan and Afghanistan, U.N. led humanitarian efforts have been inconsistent and compromised in the wake of threats to aid workers and those they are attempting to assist alike.

At times the U.N. is able to have a deep and far reaching involvement, such as the current administration of the independence referendum vote in East Timor, Indonesia or its efforts to establish a democratic government in Cambodia. More often, the U.N. is involved to only a limited extent, such as by providing humanitarian assistance. This was the case in Afghanistan after the ultra-orthodox Taliban gained control of that country. Unfortunately, the UN was unable to completely fulfill its humanitarian role, as its workers were forced out of the country in response to changing political conditions. And there are still other situations - Rwanda and Kosovo are poignant examples - where the U.N. either could not, or would not, get involved until after the conflict had largely ended, and consequently, the damage had already been done. These various situations, and the U.N. responses to them, beg the question: What is the U.N. role in civil conflict?

The depth and breadth of any U.N. intervention is based on a variety of factors, which change and evolve with each unique situation. Unlike governments, the U.N. rarely faces criticisms of imperialism or hegemony in its efforts to help resolve internal conflicts. However, the United Nations, by its mandate, can only intervene when requested to do so by the country in turmoil.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his recently release report on the work of the organization, called for a greater U.N. capacity in situations requiring conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. He stressed that it is far more expensive to deal with a crisis situation than to pay for preventative measures. The monetary cost to the international community for conflicts was nearly $200 billion in the past decade, a figure which does not include the costs to the parties involved in the conflict, nor the toll in human lives. While the Secretary-General realizes that encouraging funding now to produce long term benefits will not be easy, he nonetheless emphasizes that the international community must move in that direction. Successful prevention, according to Annan, will first require a clear understanding of the causes of conflict, though he notes that such causes are difficult to identify and explain at times.

There has been much study of the causes of wars and armed conflict, resulting in a general consensus that identifies increasing un- and underemployment, job insecurity, population growth, growing disparities in wealth, and environmental degradation as the circumstances most likely to induce conflict. Strong nationalism and patriotism used to channel anger arising from these problems outward, to other countries. Today, those same factors are causing national implosions as hostilities are increasingly directed at another party or group within the same country. Within individual countries, the uneven distribution of resources, and ever widening disparities among socioeconomic groups can lead to resentment and retaliation. In the Rwandan conflict of 1994, ethnic Hutu's blamed their economic woes on their ethnic Tutsi countrymen, leading to the genocide of between five and eight hundred thousand people.

The U.N. - through its related agencies, such as UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, UNDP, WFP and UNEP - has long worked to address the problems which can lead to internal conflict. Perhaps the most important - and probable - role the U.N. can play is in preventing these conflicts before they occur. The agencies of the U.N. have the knowledge, expertise, and experience to deal with issues such as food and water scarcity, erosion and deforestation, lack of employment, desertification, and lack of education. Individually, any of these concerns can lead to hardship for those people directly affected. In concert, these problems can have the devastating consequence of leading desperate people to take desperate measures. Neighbors turn on neighbors, casting blame for economic, political, or environmental problems from which both parties may be feeling negative effects.

By working to eliminate the sources of conflict, and using U.N. agencies to ameliorate singular conditions of concern, the U.N. system as a whole should be able to reduce the number of internal conflicts which exist today and help promote a more peaceful world in the next millennium.

Questions

1) Under what circumstances should the U.N. seek to involve itself in countries experiencing civil conflicts?

2) What levels and types of U.N. involvement have been effective in minimizing civil conflicts?

3) How can sovereign governments be encouraged to allow early and considerable U.N. involvement in civil conflict situations?

4) With limited personnel and resources, where should the U.N. focus its efforts in order to have an ameliorative impact in situations of civil conflict?

5) Which member countries and/or regional groups must "buy in" to any U.N. plan for intervention in civil conflict situations in order for such a plan to be successful?

6) What role might the U.N. play in protecting civilians and humanitarian aid workers in civil conflict situations?

7) Should the U.N. work with other NGO's to prevent conflict, and if so, how can that be accomplished?

Sources

Bolton, John R., et al. "Toward an International Criminal Court?" Council on Foreign Relations, 1999. www.cfr.org

Carnegie Commission for Preventing Deadly Conflict web page www.ccpdc.org/pubs

-"Preventing deadly conflict, Final Report," December 1997.

-"Environmental quality and Regional Conflict," December 1998.

-"Preventing Deadly Conflict: Does the World Bank have a role?"

Klare, Michael, et al. "World Security : Challenges for a New Century (3rd Ed.)," St. Martin's Press, December 1998.

Renner, Michael, "Ending Violent Conflict," Worldwatch Paper #146; April 1999.

Rosenau, James N., "The United Nations in a Turbulent World," International Peace Academy (Occasional Paper Series); Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder & London, 1992.

United Nations web page www.un.org

Annan, Kofi. 1999 Report on the Work of the Organization. Released September 9, 1999 http://www.un.org/News search for document "SG 2059