A McLeod Group Blog by Ian Smillie, Sept. 9, 2016
Even before Prime Minister Trudeau announced Canada’s new peacekeeping agenda, the media were awash with excited, not to say hysterical warnings. After the announcement, it was as though he had declared World War III.
The basics in the announcement: first, $150 million a year to a Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs)—as far as one can see, very similar to the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) in place since 2005, but with a new name and equally clever acronym when you say it out loud. Second, renewal of an existing program supporting up to 150 police officers in various peace operations. Nothing new here. And third, a deployment of up to 600 troops to UN peace support operations, over and above current commitments.
The general thrust of the editorial and op-ed commentary, mainly about the 600 troops, goes something like this:
- Peacekeeping as we know is dead. There is no peace to keep in many of the places under consideration. There could be entanglements that we’ll never get out of.
- ‘Peace operations’ these days are bloody dangerous. In its print edition, the Ottawa Citizen, said, in 80-point headlines, ‘AFRICAN MISSION WILL BE HIGH RISK: COMPLEXITY, DANGER AWAIT CANADIAN TROOPS,’ while the online edition’s headline warned it ‘could be more dangerous than Afghanistan.’ In addition to bad people, our troops will face “cholera, hepatitis, rabies, tuberculosis, typhoid, yellow fever and the Zika virus.”
- We will be sending troops to places where, as the Globe and Mail put it, ‘Canada’s national interests may not even be at stake’ (And by the way, ‘Are Canadians ready for that? Did they ever want it?’)
It’s true that in many hot spots, peacekeeping is no longer a straightforward matter of keeping combatants apart; there may well be hostilities. Our military are trained for this eventuality. In fact, that is pretty much the main purpose of a military: to be prepared for hostilities.
In any case, contrary to popular belief, UN peace operations have become less dangerous over the past three decades. And while it should not be underestimated, the military danger is unlikely to be greater than what our forces faced in Afghanistan. Plus, with 600 troops—even if they’re all assigned to one mission—Canada will never be more than a junior or mid-level player with limited responsibility. As for cholera and the like, Canadian teachers, doctors, diplomats, business people, missionaries, journalists—and sometimes even soldiers—have been going to Africa since before the Boer War. Soldiers who get their shots face no greater danger of illness than civilians—less than most, in fact, if they are on six-month rotations.
On the question of national interest, it would be churlish to mention Canadian-owned mining companies in Africa like First Quantum Minerals, Lundin Mining, New Dawn, Franco-Nevada, IAMGOLD, Kinross, Barrick, Nevsum, Semafo, Teranga, First Uranium, Banro and others. So let’s just say that in an age of environmental chaos and spreading terrorism, with the threat of global pandemics and unchecked refugee flows, addressing conflict in other parts of the world is in everybody’s national interest. That is, in part, why we have a United Nations and why we take collective action on many fronts. It’s why France, Germany and Japan contribute troops and personnel to UN peacekeeping operations, not to mention Mongolia, Rwanda and Senegal. In fact, most of the UN peacekeepers in Africa are from African countries.
The hard truth is that for years Canada has been absent from UN peacekeeping. At the end of July this year, 1,273 of the UN’s 86,620 uniformed troops were from Brazil, 6,796 were Pakistani. Only 19 were Canadian. The new number—up to 600 troops—is only a token in relation to the burden borne by other UN member states. Currently, 38 countries have more than 600 troops assigned to UN operations.
It is also worth remembering that ‘peace operations’ go well beyond the supply of troops and police. Modern complex peace missions can include support for political negotiations, good governance, elections, human rights, development and humanitarian assistance. These areas have never ceased to attract Canadian civilians who are ever present in all UN missions, without support from their government.
As to whether Canadians ever wanted to participate in UN peacekeeping, this is a silly question. Most Canadians are very proud of our record in UN peacekeeping, even if our contribution over the past decade has fallen to almost zero.
What nobody wants is for Canadian troops to be placed unnecessarily in harm’s way. But to suggest that UN peace operations are too dangerous for uniformed Canadians, or that they have nothing to do with Canada, is both short-sighted and irresponsible.