Throughout the world, there has always been conflicts between different nations. One of Canada’s characteristics represents a defining aspect known as peacekeeping, through their beliefs and interests. Peacekeeping has always been a priority for Canadians to control conflict for Canada and other nations around the world. Peacekeeping in Canada began in 1957, when Lester B. Pearson believed that Canada should do something to ensure that nations could agree to have stable truces. Pearson proposed the idea of having an armed peacekeeping force. Peacekeeping is the active maintenance of a truce between nations or communities, especially in international military forces. Canada has significantly impacted peacekeeping, through sending troops on peacekeeping missions and showing how to resolve conflict, getting money and aid through communities to help more nations, and raising awareness on peacekeeping politically.
Canada evidently shows they have impacted peacekeeping by their willingness through sending their armed peacekeeping troops on missions. The Suez Canal was the construction of a massive canal to link the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. “Great Britain, France and Israel had attacked Egypt when
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The peacekeepers success is never guaranteed but they can always provide for these communities in difficult situations. “The approved budget for UN peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year 1 July 2016-30 June 2017 is $7.87 billion.” Different countries provide these contributions of this amount of money. Money is a very important aspect for peacekeeping, without the approved budget peacekeepers cannot provide aid such as the materials like food, clean water, medical supplies or whatever else they may
Also, Canada is pressures on the political field by the United States. As a superpower United States is pressuring Canada to support them. During the Cold War Americans moved the nuclear missiles into Canada, even though the majority of Canadians were against it. Canada sends forces to Afghanistan to finish the
To add on, Lester B. Pearson accomplished a very great task, he created the first UN peacekeeping force. This may not sound like a huge thing, but there is a very good reason to why Pearson created this force. That reason is the Suez Crisis. On July 26, 1956 the Egyptian President, Abdul Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal without giving any compensation to the real owners of the canal – France and Britain. Nasser could now block the canal and this could “cripple the British economy” (suezcrisis.ca). France and Britain both could not let that happen so they secretly decided to have an agreement with Israel. Israel was then asked to launch an attack on Egypt, they agreed as the arms building up in Egypt threatened Israel. Once Israel attacked France and Britain used it as a distraction and bombed Egyptian positions. From there, all hell began to get lose. The whole Western alliance started to rip apart. Before things started to get worse, ours truly, Lester Bowles Pearson came into act. He started
Not many people recognize what the Suez Crisis is, but to those who do, they all know that Lester B. Pearson played a crucial role in the neutralization of the situation. In 1956 3 , Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, thus triggering a crisis. Britain and France soon joined in a coalition along with Israel, in order to topple the Egyptian government. The invasion was halted due to pressure from the U.N. Lester B. Pearson understood that France, Britain and Israel could not all hold onto the Suez Canal without consequences, most thought of a war of some sort. He also understood that the war would cause NATO and the Commonwealth to crack under the pressure. Knowing this, Lester B. Pearson convinced the U.N. peacekeeping force in an impressive 57-0 4 fashion, thus diffusing the Suez Crisis altogether. For his contributions, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. This is a defining moment in Canadian history and is often regarded as the start to Canada’s humble and nice keeping persona and it all started because of this man.
Canada is a country known for its humanitarian efforts and generous compassion for those in other countries who need help. The biggest humanitarian effort in modern history has arisen in Syria and Iraq. Millions of people are displaced and are driven out of their warzone of a country. With an oppressive government and dozens of terrorist’s groups destroying the country, these people have no choice but to run to safety. That safety just so happens to be us; Countries who have been blessed with wealth and proper government, that gives us the opportunity to help those in need.
By playing a role in being a peacekeeping nation, the matter has eventually come to be an identification trait for Canada due to their previous involvement. Peacekeeping
Along with Canada’s lack of contribution, Canada’s political figures do not consider Canada a peacekeeper. The previous Prime Minister Stephen Harper had his own opinion of Canada and peacekeeping. Stephen Harper says “(Canada) out of the peacekeeping business”. The fact that the Prime Minister explicitly stated that Canada has no relevance to peacekeeping is mind boggling considering how relevant Canada used to be. When Canada’s own prime minister makes a statement about their prominence it proves how much Canada has changed. Although through Justin Trudeau,
Canadian identity wasn’t always stereotypically related to polar bears, maple syrup and beavers. Various movements in the 20th century began the development of Canadian identity. Aspects of Canadian society such as technology, peacekeeping and immigration gave Canada a distinct identity. Technology distinguished Canada as a developed nation amongst others with advanced transportation, communication and electricity. Peacekeeping is also an essential part in Canada's identity as it displays effort and desire for world peace, which is something many individuals embrace. Lastly, diversity in Canada is recognized worldwide and plays a major role in Canadian identity. Through technology, peacekeeping and immigration during the 20th century, Canadian
The Suez crisis was a conflict that could have easily turned into a third World War. With a battle between the Israelis and Egyptians at Sinai, the British and French invasion of Egypt, and nuclear threats from the Soviet Union, all of the elements were present to escalate the conflict and pull other countries into the fray. Canada had no direct ties to the Suez crisis, in terms of control or economic interest. However, Canadian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, persuaded the UN General Assembly to send in the United Nations Emergency Force. Even though Lester B. Pearson dismayed the Commonwealth with his measures for peace, Canada was recognized for starting the first ever United Nations Peacekeeping mission.
Unquestionably Canada was a major contributor to the United Nation’s mission in South Sudan. Canada supported South Sudan in establishing a long term stable economy capable of supporting their population. In addition, Canada protected the rights of civilians in South Sudan by supplying the necessary resources to the United Nations and South Sudan. Furthermore, Canada assisted the establishment of a non-corrupt democratic government in South Sudan. Thus, the peace operation of South Sudan from 2012 to 2016, Canada played a crucial role in supporting long term economic development, protecting the rights of citizens and establishing a stable government.
As the 20th century comes to an end, Canada is a transcontinental nation whose interests and representatives span the face of the globe and extend into every sphere of human behaviour. However this was not always the case. When the four colonies of British North America united to create Canada on July 1, 1867, the new country's future was by no means secure. Canada was a small country, with unsettled borders, vast empty spaces, and a large powerful neighbour, the United States. Confronting these challenges was difficult for the young country. Though Canada was independent in domestic matters, Britain retained control over its foreign policy. Over the next fifty or so years, Canada's leaders and its
Limitations of UN Peacekeeping have been exposed time and again. The alterations caused by these limitations have now been incorporated in the operational structure. The influence of a UN Peacekeeping Operation, too, depends on extent of involvement of various actors, whose conduct depends greatly on assessment of strategic interests. So, the characterization of United Nations as an international authority which could issue directives to enforce its mandate would be an overstatement as previous missions have demonstrated. There have been calls for overhauling the UN Peacekeeping structure. A High-level independent panel on peace operations was appointed by Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary General of United Nations in October, 2014 to review the state of UN Peacekeeping Operations. A major concern shared by all panel members which was also earmarked as an essential shift in the future process was the emphasis laid on striving towards a political solution rather than an attempt to diffuse the crisis by military means alone. Political instability has been at the roots of many conflicts, which the UN has sought to defuse by deployment of peacekeeping missions. Most missions failed to address the larger issue of restoring stability, on account of the fact that military interventions change the dynamics of regional security forever. Also, removal of a regime could lead to further deterioration of the conflict as political vacuum created by such removal and facilitating the creation of an interim proxy regime has challenges of its own. Taking out governments/rulers is perceived as the most effective immediate response to any call for intervention. The real challenge for international community arises after a successful throw over, as it pushes the country towards a political crisis. It is this situation that world/regional powers are keen on exploiting by appointing ‘friendly’ rulers, with an eye on strategic interests, which is why a concerted political solution should be the primary objective of the international community to avoid complications. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley recently hit out at the UN peacekeeping operations, calling for a clear demarcation between
The question that has been debated and argued over time after time again, is does peacekeeping really help restore and keep the peace? Peacekeeping is the act of military forces trying to maintain the peace between rivalry countries. Although I do believe that it is important for other countries to help and support one another in times of need, I feel that the UN does have some major flaws. When countries go to war it can be for numerous reasons, territory, religion, economic resources etc. War is not just something anyone can solve in one night, it takes time. Despite the name, peacekeeping can be an extremely dangerous job. Hundreds and thousands of our Canadian soldiers dedicate their lives to the United Nations peacekeeping operation. One
The intent of this research is to examine peace keeping operations that were accomplished by the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during the Yugoslav wars. The research will focus on the effectiveness of United Nations (UN) in peace keeping operations with an emphasis on the Bosnian War. The research will start by examining briefly the history and goals of peacekeeping operations within the UN forces. This will serve to give context to the mission in Bosnia, why efforts are pursued in peacekeeping operations, and the roles they have in the international sphere. Then it will go into the peacekeeping operations that occurred during the Bosnia war. It will look to determine whether the operations were considered effective and successful with an emphasis to identify the reasons for success or lack of success. The measurement of effectiveness will look at how well they kept the peace, provided humanitarian assistance, protecting civilians in safe zones, and maintaining an effective ceasefire.
In order to understand the concept behind peacekeeping we have to first look at the history of this UN term and how it got established. The initial kick-off year was 1948 (un.org) when the Security Council deployed troops to the Middle East in order to observe the region. It was the outcome of the creation of the state Israel and the rest of the land piece was given and left over to the Palestinian Arabs. The Arab society and the Arab Nation leaders did not accept this division which caused the conflict. At first the UN sent only observers and peaceful troops to the region
While peacekeeping has become a mainstay of the United Nations collaboration in international affairs, it is evident that peacekeeping no longer espouses the ideals it was create with. Peacekeeping has devolved into ineffective barbarisms. This is evident in the sexual abuses perpetrated by peacekeepers, the growing complexity of peacekeeping mandates, which is at times in conflict with United Nations principles, and the lack of legal institutions surrounding peacekeeping, which validates a belief of impunity. However, peacekeeping is not to be totally derided as, in certain situations, it can be effective at limiting civilian deaths. Furthermore, peacekeeping can be made effective if several reforms are enacted. These include an effective legal order, an understanding of local culture, and developing strong relationships within the jurisdiction of the operation. These changes could make peacekeeping an effective method of conflict intervention.