UN Security Operations After the Cold War, 1988–1998

A s the cold war was winding down, the United Nations underwent an important transition. The new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sought to reduce East-West tensions by reinvigorating multilateralism generally and UN peacekeeping more particularly. ¹ The Soviet Union made payments on its UN debt of over $200 million in 1987, generating renewed international interest in the United Nations and collective security. Among other things, the first and second UNs were helpful to Gorbachev, as UN peacekeeping provided a face-saving means to withdraw from what he called the “bleeding wound of Afghanistan.” ²