Why Peacekeeping Fails

From Library Journal
Jett, a former U.S. ambassador to Mozambique, assesses UN-sponsored peacekeeping since the Cold War and finds it wanting. He argues that vague objectives, inadequate forces, and bureaucratic politics converged to undercut the UN's effectiveness when confronted with civil wars of maddening complexity. Jett's analysis rests largely on a comparison between the failure in Angola and the limited success in Mozambique. This astute choice of cases--two Portuguese colonies that attained independence under similar circumstances--allows Jett to isolate shortcomings specific to the UN and explain why the Angola conflict outstripped the capabilities of UN peacekeepers. Angola's wealth of natural resources, for instance, enabled the combatants to purchase foreign arms in quantity, while superpower backing for the warring factions prolonged the conflict and inhibited negotiation. The relative absence of these factors eased a settlement in Mozambique. Jett concludes that the UN will be underused for peacekeeping in the future. Strongly recommended for academic libraries.-James Holmes, Inst. for Foreign Policy Analysis, Cambridge, MA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Jett, a former ambassador to Mozambique, examines the lessons learned when the United Nations fails or succeeds in its peacekeeping missions. He chooses the missions in Mozambique and Angola because of the countries' similar histories (both former Portuguese colonies and cold war battlegrounds) but different outcomes. When the UN closed its mission in Angola in 1999 after four years of relative peace, war began almost immediately because factions had used the interim as a time to rearm. In contrast, the five-year mission in Mozambique apparently succeeded. Jett examines the history of the UN, why it undertakes missions, and how success is determined by factors outside of its control--the conflicting parties, outside parties, regional powers, and a country's resources. Jett looks at how the size and scope of missions have changed since the end of the cold war, and how they've become increasingly complex. This is a well-researched and insightful look at a controversial activity, particularly because of recent peacekeeping failures in Bosnia and Somalia. Vanessa Bush


From Kirkus Reviews
A heavily documented scholarly analysis of the perils of peacekeeping that focuses on the UN's efforts to bring and keep peace in Angola and Mozambique. Jett (Diplomat in Residence/Carter Center) laments the failure of peacekeeping to ``shorten the suffering'' of people who live in regions torn by civil strife rather than providing ``a temporary respite.'' In nine swift chapters he explores the history of the process, identifies its weaknesses and strengths (internal and external), and ends with the grim observation that peacekeeping is most difficult because those involved must often ``kill some people in order to save others.'' In contrasting what he believes is ``one of the UN's biggest successes'' (Mozambique) to one of its most spectacular failures (Angola, where 800,000 have died in an ongoing war), Jett reveals some surprising facts: There are currently 15 operations in progress; because there is no provision for peacekeeping in the UN charter, ``the legal basis for each operation is the mandate given to it; and these ad hoc mandates range from comprehensive to limited, from clear to murky, from conceivable to impossible. He notes that a country's abundance (or dearth) of natural resources can greatly affect the performance of the peacekeepers: Where oil and diamonds are at stake (as in Angola), the parties continue to fight more ferociously than in Mozambique, where control of ``cashew nuts, cotton, and shrimp'' awaits the victor. Jett also recognizes the power of the media to affect missions through the ``CNN effect: When TV stations all over the world telecast images of dead US soldiers dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in 1993, UN peacekeeping operations altered dramatically. At times Jett's text is densethere are many long block quotations and an alphabet soup of acronymsbut his professorial tone seems appropriate to so serious a topic. Well-researched, pertinent, and often wise. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Booklist
This is a well-researched and insightful look at a controversial activity, particularly because of recent peacekeeping failures in Bosnia and Somalia.


Review
“This is a well-researched and insightful look at a controversial activity, particularly because of recent peacekeeping failures in Bosnia and Somalia.” —Booklist

“Well-researched, pertinent, and often wise.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A very useful, well-written study and should be in the library of all interested in multinational peacekeeping.” —Foreign Service Journal



Book Description
Dennis Jett examines why peacekeeping operations fail by comparing the unsuccessful attempt at peacekeeping in Angola with the successful effort in Mozambique alongside a wide range of other peacekeeping experiences. The book argues that while the causes of past peacekeeping failures can be identified, the chances for success will be difficult to improve because of the way such operations are initiated and conducted and the way the United Nations operates as an organization. Jett reviews the history of peacekeeping and the evolution in the number, size, scope, and cost of peacekeeping missions.



About the Author
Dennis C. Jett entered the foreign service in 1972. Before becoming Ambassador to Peru, he was Ambassador to Mozambique.



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This is a paperbound repirnt of a 1999 book about which Book News wrote: Jett (Diplomat in Residence, Carter Center, Atlanta) shows why peacekeeping operations fail by comparing unsuccessful with successful efforts in a range of peacekeeping missions. While causes of past failures may be identifiable, the book argues that chances for success will be difficult in the future because of the way peacekeeping operations are initiated and conducted, and the way the UN functions internally. Jett explains why peacekeeping has become more necessary, possible, and desired and yet more complex, difficult, and less frequently used. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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