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CANADIANS 4 PEACEKEEPING
Talking Points:
UN PEACEKEEPING’S
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES
NOTE: The following talking points are meant to facilitate discussion on issues related to
Canada’s commitment to United Nations peace operations. They are based on remarks given
April 27 by Dominic Leger at a presentation on Parliament Hill to the All Party Committee on the
Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. These talking points do not necessarily
reflect the views and opinions of the Canadians for Peacekeeping campaign or individual
campaign participants.
2. Civilian capacity
3. Effectiveness
During the last five years, many studies have demonstrated that UN
peacekeeping works.
The study showed that out of eight situations managed by the UN, seven were
resolved, and of the eight situations managed by the US, four were resolved. It
concluded that UN-missions had a higher success rate and provided the most
suitable institutional framework for nation-building missions.
1
James Dobbins et al., The UN’S Role in Nation-Building, From the Congo to Iraq, Santa Monica, Rand,
2005
Also in 2005, the Human Security Report Project, now based at Simon Fraser
University in Vancouver, published a study on the reduction of conflicts and
human rights violations in the world between 1990 and 2005.2 The study
concluded that UN interventions were an important factor in reducing
international violence.
4. Cost Effectiveness
A study by the RAND Corporation in 2007 concluded that when you compare
costs to the UN per peacekeeper to the costs of troops deployed by the United
States, other developed states, NATO or regional organizations, the United
Nations is the least expensive option by far.3
5. Legitimacy
2
Human Security Report 2005, War and Peace in the 21st Century, Human Security Centre, Vancouver,
2005, p. 15
3
James Dobbins et al., “The Beginner’s Guide to Nation-Building”, RAND Corporation, 2007.
4
$876 million compared to the UN budgeted $428 million for the first 14 months of the mission. From:
“Peacekeeping: Cost Comparison of Actual UN and Hypothetical U.S. Operations in Haiti”, United States
Government Accountability Office, Report to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,
Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, GAO-06-331, February 2006, p. 7.
5
Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, “The Challenge of Reducing the Global Incidence of Civil War”, Centre
for the Study of African iii. Economies, Department of Economics, Oxford University, 26 March 2004.
major powers, including the rising and regional powers, can jointly participate in
providing stability.
Only the UN offers the option of a politically diverse but operationally capable
mission – but only if major powers and other powers, like Canada, invest in UN
operations.