Ethos of ‘Vasudhiva Kutumbakam’ in Nepal’s Contribution to UN Peacekeeping Operations

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-150
Author(s):  
Gaurav Bhattarai ◽  
Beenita Nepali
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
World Peace ◽  
Policy Objective ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Peacekeeping ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

After joining the United Nations in 1955, Nepal not only initiated its non-isolationist foreign policy, but also effectively championed the policy of non-alignment, world peace and non-intervention at several multilateral forums and UN bodies. The most outstanding and globally applauded effort has been Nepal’s contribution in the maintenance of global peace and security through UN peacekeeping missions. Adhering to the eastern philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, which envisions the entire world as one family, today, Nepal is the 5th largest troop contributor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). But most of the literature produced on Nepal’s role in the United Nations peacekeeping mission are either too general and mere archival or focussed only on glorifying the contribution of Nepali soldiers in different peacekeeping missions. Identifying the same research gap, this study aims to appraise Nepal’s participation in UN peacekeeping missions from Nepal’s foreign policy objective of world peace. To fulfill the same objective, the ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam has been foregrounded in the study. Initially, the general understanding of UN peacekeeping in Nepal was associated with bravery, which was later replaced by the concept of ‘kamaune’, which means to earn from the missions. But this study has deliberately cloaked the economic variable of peacekeeping and foregrounds the philosophical drive to highlight how Nepal’s peacekeeping should find more places in political and foreign policy measurement rather than being confined to the financial and institutional variables.

UN Peacekeeping Operations and Successful Military Diplomacy: A Case Study of Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bakare Najimdeen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Policy Objective ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
Military Diplomacy

Few years following its creation, the United Nations (UN) with the blessing of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decided to establish the UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), as a multilateral mechanism geared at fulfilling the Chapter VII of the UN Charter which empowered the Security Council to enforce measurement to maintain or restore international peace and security. Since its creation, the multilateral mechanism has recorded several successes and failures to its credit. While it is essentially not like traditional diplomacy, peacekeeping operations have evolved over the years and have emerged as a new form of diplomacy. Besides, theoretically underscoring the differences between diplomacy and foreign policy, which often appear as conflated, the paper demonstrates how diplomacy is an expression of foreign policy. Meanwhile, putting in context the change and transformation in global politics, particularly global conflict, the paper argues that traditional diplomacy has ceased to be the preoccupation and exclusive business of the foreign ministry and career diplomats, it now involves foot soldiers who are not necessarily diplomats but act as diplomats in terms of peacekeeping, negotiating between warring parties, carrying their countries’ emblems and representing the latter in resolving global conflict, and increasingly becoming the representation of their countries’ foreign policy objective, hence peacekeeping military diplomacy. The paper uses decades of Pakistan’s peacekeeping missions as a reference point to establish how a nation’s peacekeeping efforts represent and qualifies as military diplomacy. It also presented the lessons and good practices Pakistan can sell to the rest of the world vis-à-vis peacekeeping and lastly how well Pakistan can consolidate its peacekeeping diplomacy.

4. Peacekeeping to peacebuilding

2015 ◽  
pp. 71-90
Author(s):  
Jussi M. Hanhimäki
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

Peacekeeping is among the most visible roles of the United Nations. But how much do people trust in UN peacekeeping operations? ‘Peacekeeping to peacebuilding’ shows how the UN has struggled to live up to the expectations of its founders in this area. Between 1948 and 1988 the UNSC authorized only thirteen peacekeeping missions. In those years, a number of interstate and an increasing number of intrastate (or civil) wars took place. Cold War pressures explain, to some extent, this imperfect record. Today's more numerous peacekeeping activities are far more complex in nature than they used to be: keeping peace is more than just making and building peace.

Assessing UN Peacekeeping Missions in Central African Republic (CAR) through the Lens of Returning Pakistani Peacekeeping Troops: Perceptions and Challenges

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayesha Ishfaq
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Central African Republic ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
And Training ◽  
Field Area

The research surrounding the effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs) has been an on-going process ever since the inception of these operations. The available literature discusses the successes and failures of the missions depending on variables such as the host country‘s dynamics, mission mandate, and end result etc. However, the experience of the peacekeepers is rarely, if ever, a consideration in understanding the success/failure. Pakistan is one of the largest troops contributing countries to UNPKOs; therefore, it has a huge reservoir of returning and actively serving peacekeepers. The field area challenges and host country‘s environment experienced by the troops play a significant role in discerning the outcome of a UN mission. This research focuses on assessing the challenges and perceptions of Pakistani-UN Peacekeeping Troops in achieving the underlying objectives of United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The assessment is based on the primary data collected through interviews from Pakistani UN peacekeepers discussing their in-field challenges, motivations, perceptions, experiences and training. The study endeavours to highlight the contribution of Pakistani Troops to achieve global peace in today‘s complex peacekeeping environment.

UN Peacekeeping during Health Crises: Covid-19 and Expansion of Mission Mandates

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Hajira Arif
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
The Times ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
Hiv Aids

The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions are increasingly deployed in highly complex environments, working towards realizing global peace and security. The missions face numerous challenges ranging from socio-economic dimensions to even political hurdles. Among these challenges, the role of peacekeepers during health crises calls for in-depth exploration. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for contextualizing peacekeeping amid health crises is receiving utmost attention. This essay looks at this challenge, notably during the outbreaks of HIV/AIDS, Cholera, Ebola, and the ongoing pandemic (i.e., Covid-19). It briefly analyzes the impacts experienced and the role played by peacekeepers during the times of these outbreaks. The essay also explores the need for „transformation‟ of peacekeeping missions to counter the challenges posed by health crises. It highlights how globalization has caused the „globalized‟ nature of diseases, and therefore thereis an urgent need for exploration and adoption of policies concerning this issue. The essay also suggests some of these potential measures that may equip the peacekeeping missions to fulfil their mandated tasks effectively. It also points towards the gaps in the literature, whose exploration may contribute towards realizing health crises within the broader roles of the peacekeeping mandates.

scholarly journals UN Peacekeeping: the Origins of the Concept of Oversight Operations

2020 ◽  
pp. 142-154
Author(s):  
Olena Skrypnyk
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Military Installations ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
Initial Form ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
History Of ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

The purpose of the article is to explore the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the concept of UN oversight operations as the initial form of peacekeeping operations and to clarify their role in peacekeeping through the work of such first groups as the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan. The methodology of the research based on the principles of systemicity, authenticity, historicism, logics. General scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (historical-typological, historical-system) methods have been used. The events are considered according to their interrelation and in the totality of the revealed historical facts. The scientific novelty is that for the first time the historical aspect of UN involvement in resolving regional conflicts of the second half of the twentieth was explored, since most of the works were written by professional lawyers, political scientists, etc., and thus, due to the specific nature of their research, historical aspects could not be covered in full. Conclusions. In the course of the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the United Nations has developed new methods of peacekeeping. In the late 1940-s – early 1950-s, the concept of UN oversight operations as the initial form of peacekeeping operations was developed by member-states. The creation of this concept gave a significant impetus to the development of UN peacekeeping. The function of the UN observers included: surveillance, daily reports, incident investigations, military installations inspection. Thus, they were the main source of information for the Security Council on the situation in the region. On May 29, 1948, a group of military observers called the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to monitor the truce was created, which is considered was reference to the history of this crucial and necessary UN activity. In 1949, the United Nations Group on India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) formed. The experience of these first groups became the basis for developing other forms and methods of peacekeeping: missions to find out the facts, plebiscite observations, good-service missions, reconciliation teams, mediators and special representatives, and more. The author draws attention to the fact that regional conflicts mentioned in the article, despite the efforts of the UN, remain unresolved today, so the UN should develop more effective measures for their settlement.

scholarly journals The emergence and development of UN peacekeeping activities

2020 ◽  
pp. 423-427
Author(s):  
Yaryna Zhukorska
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
History Of ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

The first two official UN missions to launch UN peacekeeping operations were the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization(Israel) and the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan.The UN’s peacekeeping activities, in its traditional sense, came at a time when confrontation between the parties to the Cold Warparalyzed the Security Council in 1956 during the Suez Crisis.In order to understand how peacekeeping has evolved from its inception to the present day, as well as to be able to assess howits effectiveness has grown, the author proposes to divide the history of peacekeeping missions into periods.In 1987, 5 peacekeeping operations were carried out, and in 1993 their number reached 19, in 1995 – 20. In 2019 – 14 peacekeepingmissions were carried out. However, not all peacekeeping operations are carried out only by the UN. Between 2004 and 2013,regional organizations and situational alliances were involved in stabilizing the conflict (as in the case of the CAR, Chad and Darfurmissions).Peacekeeping has become a unique example of global cooperation as a major UN body, such as the General Assembly, the SecurityCouncil, the Secretariat; and States, both those providing military and police contingents and those receiving missions.Throughout its history, there have been setbacks and victories, but peacekeeping has proved the necessity of its existence. It hasbecome a unique example of global cooperation as a major UN body, such as the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat;and States, both those providing military and police contingents and those receiving missions.Given all the shortcomings and problems that have arisen during peacekeeping missions for half a century, in 2000 the UN beganreforming the peacekeeping mechanism, which continues to this day.Since 1948, UN peacekeeping has evolved significantly and become much more effective, but there are still problems with thelegitimacy of UN missions, human rights violations and others.

Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness in the Midst of Fighting

2014 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA HULTMAN ◽  
JACOB KATHMAN ◽  
MEGAN SHANNON
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
United Nations Peacekeeping ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
The Cold War

While United Nations peacekeeping missions were created to keep peace and perform post-conflict activities, since the end of the Cold War peacekeepers are more often deployed to active conflicts. Yet, we know little about their ability to manage ongoing violence. This article provides the first broad empirical examination of UN peacekeeping effectiveness in reducing battlefield violence in civil wars. We analyze how the number of UN peacekeeping personnel deployed influences the amount of battlefield deaths in all civil wars in Africa from 1992 to 2011. The analyses show that increasing numbers of armed military troops are associated with reduced battlefield deaths, while police and observers are not. Considering that the UN is often criticized for ineffectiveness, these results have important implications: if appropriately composed, UN peacekeeping missions reduce violent conflict.

scholarly journals Implementation in practice: The use of force to protect civilians in United Nations peacekeeping

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingvild Bode ◽  
John Karlsrud
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Member States ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Peacekeeping ◽  
Normative Foundations

Since the failures of the United Nations of the early 1990s, the protection of civilians has evolved as a new norm for United Nations peacekeeping operations. However, a 2014 United Nations report found that while peacekeeping mandates often include the use of force to protect civilians, this has routinely been avoided by member states. What can account for this gap between the apparently solid normative foundations of the protection of civilians and the wide variation in implementation? This article approaches the question by highlighting normative ambiguity as a fundamental feature of international norms. Thereby, we consider implementation as a political, dynamic process where the diverging understandings that member states hold with regard to the protection of civilians norm manifest and emerge. We visualize this process in combining a critical-constructivist approach to norms with practice theories. Focusing on the practices of member states’ military advisers at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and their positions on how the protection of civilians should be implemented on the ground, we draw attention to their agency in norm implementation at an international site. Military advisers provide links between national ministries and contingents in the field, while also competing for being recognized as competent performers of appropriate implementation practices. Drawing on an interpretivist analysis of data generated through an online survey, a half-day workshop and interviews with selected delegations, the article adds to the understanding of norms in international relations while also providing empirical insights into peacekeeping effectiveness.

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Applicability of International Humanitarian Law and Responsibility for Operations-Related Damage

2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphna Shraga
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
First Time

In the five decades that followed the Korea operation, where for the first time the United Nations commander agreed, at the request of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to abide by the humanitarian provisions of the Geneva Conventions, few UN operations lent themselves to the applicability of international humanitarian law

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