ABSTRACT
A number of interwoven reasons exist to explain the deployment. At the strategic level, attitudes and understanding in New York, according to the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) Force Commander, contributed in no small part to the tardy departure. In essence, a lack of information and insight, and the incapacity to digest some of the data moving between Cambodia and New York, contributed to the long delay in getting UNTAC on the ground. The provision of a Neutral Political Environment (NPE) necessitated UNTAC's Civilian Administration component to supervise nine areas of the state in Phnom Penh, five of which were considered to be potentially particularly influential in an election. The causes of the deployment delay lay in weak planning and a sense of ambush, whereby after a decade of negotiation, the UN was unexpectedly assaulted by the consequences of the sophisticated arrangements signed in its name in 1991.
