Peace, Power, and the United Nations: A Security System for the Twenty-First Century by Joseph P. Lorenz

Author:Joseph P. Lorenz [Lorenz, Joseph P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781000242386
Google: 8K2bDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 52056227
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1998-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

The First Tripwire Operations: Iraq-Kuwait and Macedonia

In April 1991 a new kind of UN operation was launched that further obscures the boundary between peacekeeping and collective security—or, put another way, that illustrates the wide range of options available to the Security Council along the conciliation-coercion spectrum. Along the Iraq-Kuwait border and in Macedonia, "tripwire" arrangements that include some or all of the permanent members have proved a useful tool in conflict prevention. Their effectiveness lies in the unspoken but highly credible threat of the major powers to use force to prevent aggression in an area of strategic importance.

Soon after the withdrawal of Iraq's forces from Kuwait, the Security Council established an unarmed observation mission, known as the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (or UNIKOM), to monitor the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait. UNIKOM was to observe any hostile action by one state against the other and to deter violations of the boundary. In February 1993, after a series of incidents along the border, the council increased the strength of the mission and extended its mandate to include the capacity to take military action to prevent violations of the demilitarized zone. To carry out the expanded mandate, the three hundred military observers who made up the original mission were augmented by more than nine hundred troops and military support personnel. Over thirty-three states have contributed troops and observers. But the importance of UNIKOM for the future is that it is the first UN operation to include personnel from all five permanent members.

Although it resembles in its declared functions some of the Middle East missions that separated hostile parties after the Arab-Israeli wars, UNIKOM is radically different. As part of the series of mandatory decisions taken under Chapter VII during the Gulf crisis, the force does not require Baghdad's continuing assent to remain on Iraqi soil—a defining characteristic of the earlier, consensual peacekeeping operations. In purpose and intent, UNIKOM is closer to collective security than to peacekeeping, although it combines elements of both. The participation of all five permanent members makes it plain that renewed Iraqi aggression would lead to a request for further Security Council authority for the use of armed force.

The other ongoing tripwire operation is the UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. Here, four of the permanent members (China does not take part) contribute forces to an operation that is designed to prevent hostilities in the two-year-old crisis between Greece and the former Republic of Macedonia.22 Established in March 1995 to replace the larger UN Protection Force in Macedonia (UNPROFOR), the present operation has the mildsounding task of monitoring and reporting border developments that could undermine confidence and stability. But the participation of four permanent members and the deployment of 1,050 troops and 35 observers along the border send the message that military action involving Macedonia would be met with armed force. The U.S. contribution of 550 troops represents the most significant U.S. venture into preventive diplomacy backed by tripwire peacekeeping—other than UNIKOM, which stemmed directly from the Chapter VII enforcement action in the Gulf.

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