An implementation model for inter-state peacekeeping operations

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Since the advent of democracy in 1994, domestic and international expectations havesteadily grown regarding the role of a new South African as a responsible andrespected member of the international community. These expectations haveincluded the hope that South Africa will playa leading role in a variety of international,regional and sub-regional forums and that the country will become an activeparticipant in attempts to resolve various regional and international conflicts.The nature of international activities aimed at international conflict prevention,management and resolution has changed dramatically over the past decade. Aradically post-Cold War security environment has seen the transformation of classicalpeacekeeping operations into complex, multi-dimensional conflict managementactivities with a political focus in which the military is but one of many participants.Whilst South Africa has, as a member of bodies such as the United Nations, theOrganisation of African Unity, the African Union and the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community, begun to play an active role in diplomatic resolutioninitiatives, the country is also expected to contribute to wider multi-national peacemissions.Contemporary peace missions are fundamentally political initiatives, despite thecomplex mixture of political, humanitarian and military concerns and means. SouthAfrica must therefore make a careful appraisal of the political and strategicenvironment within which peace missions are to be launched and the principlesgoverning South African participation in such efforts. A clear understanding isrequired of the type of mandate, which governs peace missions in order to facilitatea detailed articulation of acceptable entry and exit criteria and to determine thescope, level and type of resources that South Africa is willing to commit to futurepeace missions. This will provide a clear indication to the international communityand the regional and sub-regional partners of South Africa's stance on participationin peace operations. South Africa has limited but valuable resources to offer the international communityfor the conduct of peace missions. These include civilians with a diverse range ofskills and experience appropriate to peace processes, professional and experiencedpolice officers and well trained and disciplined military capacity. If these resourcesare to be utilised by the international community in the cause of peace, theirapproximate nature and size must be defined through an appropriate readinesssystem for each component.On the other hand, a number of key conditions must be met before these potentialresources are deployed in support of a particular peace mission. Some of theresponsibility for meeting these conditions lies at the level of the internationalcommunity - such as the formulation of a clear and realistic mandate. On the otherhand, it is a national obligation to support and budget for such participation.After an assessment of the South African National Defence Force, operationBOLEAS in Lesotho, a clearly articulated Aide de Memoire is recommended as amodel for Peace Support Operations, which will cover all aspects in relation to SouthAfrican National Defence (SANDF) participation in peace initiatives. This Aide DeMemoire aim to set conditions that should be met before any peacekeeping operationcan be implemented. It will provide clarity on matters relating to the scope of SouthAfrican peace missions; the question of mandates, joint task organisation and legalresponsibilities.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University