UN peacekeeping missions : the lessons from Cambodia

Abstract

As the United Nations reevaluates peacekeeping operations following setbacks in Somalia and Bosnia, it can point to the overall success of its mission in Cambodia. The massive UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) helped to rebuild a country shattered by a brutal dictatorship and a dozen years of civil war. The UN force withdrew after organizing free elections that put a coalition government in place. "Something clearly went right in Cambodia," says Judy L. Ledgerwood, who served with UNTAC's information and education section. Ledgerwood gives an "on-the-ground" view of the mission's successes and shortcomings and provides advice for future peacekeeping missions. Most effective were the election operation and the radio station; least successful was an undisciplined civilian police force. The mission was also hampered by UN bureaucracy and staffing shortages as well as inattention to social problems such as prostitution and HIV/AIDS. The gains are now threatened by an unrepentant Khmer Rouge force still getting assistance from across the border in Thailand.