After the Cold War

Main Topics:



Canada’s International Reputation



Canada’s Contributions to World Peace

Peacekeeping changed radically once the Cold War was over!

 More missions  Different types of missions  More peacekeeping organizations  New roles for peacekeepers

More Missions

 There have been over 40 peacekeeping missions since 1990 .

 The UN alone currently has 16 active peacekeeping missions – these cost an average of $5 billion per year.

 Currently, over 88,000 peacekeepers from 113 different countries are deployed throughout the world!

UN peacekeeping missions - dark blue represents current missions.

Different Missions

 Peacekeepers now keep the peace within states as well as between states.

 Peacekeeping has turned more into peacemaking : it has become a matter of creating peace where it does not exist.

More Organizations

 The UN is no longer the world’s only peacekeeping organization!

 Other peacekeeping organizations:  NATO  Organization for African Unity  Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

New Roles for Peacekeepers

 Train and organize local police  Remove mines  Conduct fair elections  Assist the return of refugees  Protect human rights  Intervene to prevent humanitarian disasters .

Peacekeepers distributing rice in East Timor

Peacekeeping and Canada

 Ever since the end of the Cold War, Canada has been involved in peacekeeping activities throughout the world.

Iraq (1991)

 In 1991, Canada participated in the first Gulf War as part of a UN force.

 Canadians helped to push the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.  We participated with our air force, our army and our navy!

Yugoslavia (1992-1995)

 After the fall of Communism in 1991, Yugoslavia began to break apart .

 Yugoslavia was made up of many different ethnic groups , and they all wanted to become independent.

 Problem: Some Yugoslavian provinces had ethnically mixed populations . What country would these people belong to?

Result:  Wars broke out between the Serbs, the Croats and the Bosnian Muslims.

 UN peacekeepers were sent to the region in order to force the rival armies apart .

 In both Croatia and Bosnia, the peacekeepers were unable to stop massacres and ethnic cleansing from taking place.

Somalia (1992)

 In 1992, soldiers of the Canadian Airborne Regiment were sent to Somalia as part of a very difficult peacekeeping mission:  Somalia had been devastated by civil war and famine .

 There was no central government , as gangs ran parts of the country and controlled the distribution of food aid coming from other countries.

Somalia (1992)

 During this mission, an event took place that permanently harmed the reputation of Canadian soldiers and UN peacekeepers.

 The Somalia Affair:

Somalia (1992)

 Read the handout titled “ Death of Shidane Arone ” and respond to the following:  Explain why this event harmed the reputation of the entire Canadian military and not just the reputation of those who were directly involved in the crime.

 Describe the Canadian government’s response to this event.

Rwanda (1994)

 In 1994, there was a civil war in the small African nation of Rwanda, as two ethnic groups, the Tutsis and the Hutus fought for power.

 The Hutus won and began to organize a genocide against the Tutsis.

Result:  A UN peacekeeping force was sent to protect the Tutsis.

 Problem: UN members contributed only 3,000 troops to this force.

 Problem: The UN peacekeepers were attacked, and most counties removed their soldiers.

 Result: 500 peacekeepers were left with the task of stopping the genocide .

The peacekeeping mission was led by Canadian General Romeo Dallaire.

 Dallaire warned the international community that a genocide would take place, but his pleas for help were ignored.

Result:  Over 1,000,000 people were killed in the genocide.

 Dallaire later wrote a book in which he claimed that “

the international community ha[d] blood on its hands

.” Do you agree with Dallaire’s statement? Write a point-from list of reasons to support your position.