ABSTRACT
The multinational nature of contemporary peace operations produces a complex web of relations, all of which demand a high level of international co-operation at strategic, operational and tactical levels. This chapter examines United Nations (UN) efforts to promote multinational co-operation in peace operations. Although the UN itself is an exercise in supranational norms, its successes and failures underscore the difficulties in maintaining them. The Brahimi Report described the United Nations’ inability to bring more men, money and thought to the mission of peace-keeping. Developing countries often lack the resources and opportunities to carry out training in peace-keeping, and certainly there are few opportunities for collective international training. The primary aim of the Commission is to strengthen a country’s own capacity to recover after conflict and reduce the long-term necessity for recurring peace-keeping operations. Co-operation becomes more challenging with increasing heterogeneity, and certainly current UN operations are very heterogeneous.
