The UN Iraq–Kuwait Observer Mission and the Southern No-fly Zone, 1991–2003

The United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) and the Southern No-fly Zone (SNFZ) developed an unusual symbiosis. The former was conceived in April 1991 as an interpositional observation force to support a comprehensive effort to resolve the “Iraq–Kuwait” dispute. UNIKOM has not attracted as much academic attention as other UN peace support operations from the same era. This has more to do with the dramatic events in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Rwanda than UNIKOM. William Durch describes it as “traditional peacekeeping in an untraditional situation”. ¹ Jan Bury assesses UNIKOM’s entire span as being only somewhat successful in dealing with the “Iraq–Kuwait dispute”. ² In August 1992, the United States-led coalition imposed a No-fly Zone (NFZ) over southern Iraq “consistent with” ³ an earlier UN Security Council resolution in the name of preventing another crisis involving Iraq.