In order to understand the reasons for not contributing troops, a data collection effort was conducted from which the analysis of the reasons was obtained. There are 10 different variables or factors that affect the willingness to send troops. The initial variables of the data collection process were obtained from previous research about the motivations of contributor countries. And finally, the rest of the variables were obtained directly from NCCs’ bibliographical references. As a result, countries do not contribute troops due to a series of factors (internal and external factors) that react differently in each country under the prevailing characteristics of the international system. The following section corresponds to the final analysis of the data collection effort.
Initial variables of the data collection process:
UN/UN peacekeeping policy reform
As of 2006, the NCCs’ agenda is not influenced by the UN/UN peacekeeping policy reform, unless they seek a non-permanent seat at the Security Council. In fact, it was not relevant for the vast majority of the countries. Most of them keep advocating for issues that have a direct effect on their interests, such as economic development. If DPKO wants to use UN/UN peacekeeping policy reform as a tool to obtain troops from the NCCs, it will not have effect on most of them.
Perception of peacekeeping
The perception of peacekeeping varies from country to country, and it affects greatly on the willingness to send troops. This variable is directly correlated to domestic political and economic environments—because if there is a good perception, the support will be there. The Brahimi Report recommendations are currently working on this issue. But unfortunately, it would not produce significant results. On the other hand, the Brahimi Report is the cornerstone on which the improvement of the perceptions of peacekeeping will rely on. But DPKO must realize that in countries in which democracy prevails, the Brahimi Report’s positive effects on peacekeeping will have to reinforce their communication strategies because DPKO will have to convince legislative bodies that generally view peacekeeping as a step towards neo-imperialism (for instance Mexico). Unfortunately, as of 2006, DPKO does not officially have that mandate (DPKO 2006, 1). Perhaps in the near future, DPKO’s official mandate will have to include promoting peacekeeping within the UN Member States. In the past years, the Sub-Secretary General has been engaged in these talks while visiting Mexico. Thus, this type of function may very well be institutionalized to promote the exchange of ideas between DPKO personnel and the legislative bodies and agencies involved in sending troops. It is important to mention that these meetings will be to inform, not to try to persuade them.
Domestic political environment
This is the most important variable in the data collection process. Without political will, there is nothing. And the fact that the country has a developed army, and its economic environment is developed as well does not matter at the end. This variable is correlated to all of them. It affects directly and/or indirectly the rest of the variables. Also, the international system affects the domestic political environment. And, in some cases such as North Korea and Israel, their political environments can affect the international system. Absolutely all the NCCs do not contribute troops because there is not enough political will. Each country has its own national plans, and only in a few of them does UN peacekeeping offer political benefits, such as improving the chances of obtaining a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council. But for most of them, UN peacekeeping is not part of their national agendas. DPKO knows that this will take time. And this is very puzzling for many people involved in international affairs, because it gives the idea that UN members are not committed to the fundamentals of the UN. Therefore, in the main time, increasing the understanding of all the members of the international peace operations community (not only the contributors), will have a positive impact on the long run on addressing the internal political environments of the NCCs.
Domestic economic environment
This factor is also very relevant, but not as strong as the political environment. Once the NCC governments have realized that UN peace operations can also bring economic incentives to their economies, their governments can seek to participate in UN operations. Also, if the country has no army/defence forces, their government can still seek to employ their citizens as peacekeepers with the armies of other countries highly involved in UN peacekeeping, such as the case of the Pacific islands in Australia and New Zealand’s armies. There are other countries, which have developed economies, that normally provide financial contributions.
Military affairs
DPKO sources indicated that “the major problem of the developing countries interested on participating in UN peacekeeping missions is the lack of Armed Personnel Carriers (APC) and other major equipment. If developed countries can provide major equipment to UN peacekeeping missions for the use of developing countries, more developing countries will be able to deploy troops to UN peacekeeping missions.” Many developed countries have training centers specifically designed for peacekeeping operations. They are highly involved with DPKO to seek potential troop contributors and potential countries which, with proper training, could develop their defence forces to be involved in UN peace operations. Also, not having an army/defence forces is not a requirement to participate. Some countries are seeking employment for their citizens in other countries’ armies that participate in UN operations.
Foreign policy
Foreign policy is a reflection of the domestic political environment. Some countries have their own domestic political environment as their own foreign policy. Contrary to what most people would believe, peacekeeping does not only attract democratic governments. Belarus has been called the last tyranny of Europe, and it is already in the process of sending troops to UN operations. But it is clear whether Belarus troops will be accepted. Because another issue that is highly considered is the people’s perceptions of the army proposed to be deployed to a UN operation. Also, bilateral relations can be stronger than multilateral agreements (including UN membership). Some countries’ foreign policy is focused on regional issues, ties with specific countries or regional/issue-led organizations. And the UN membership is not fully followed. Again, this research provides an overview of the causes of this behavior, further information can be found with the country of interest. Nevertheless, it is worth it to say that the main reason is because UN membership does not provide short-term solutions for their domestic problems. As a result, they have been forced to seek support from other sources.
Additional variables found after the preliminary analysis:
Climate changes
For some countries, climate change is becoming their foreign policy. Climate change and its effects on the rising oceans can reach catastrophic consequences for many of the small islands states. The term environmental refugee will have to be added to international treaties. The small island states, that are not yet engaged in UN peacekeeping trainings, do not provide troops because they want to see results from the international community on addressing the issues of climate change. Once it has been achieved, then their door will be wide open to discuss other issues, including peacekeeping.
Independent negotiations taken by DPKO to seek troops
Unfortunately, this factor does not affect the NCCs. DPKO has limited resources in personnel, and in order to maximize their time, they will only approach to countries that DPKO considers they are strong candidates.
Independent negotiations taken by contributor countries to engage non-contributor countries
Some countries (such as the USA) are highly involved in requesting troops for their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The USA offers aid/training/benefits for participating. This variable proved to have a high level of acceptance among countries interested on improving ties with the USA. Also, other countries engage on this type of negotiations with the goal to offer training for UN operations. This is the case of the UK in Armenia. The UK also provides English language training. For DPKO, having the support of independent contributor countries with the desire to help NCCs to participate is a great asset. This approach can be also used on gradually start involving the NCCs in UN peace operations. This is already happening with some NCCs, such as Tonga.
Meetings organized by other international organizations to engage in dialogue about peacekeeping
This is not very important. It does affect that much, because it depends on many other factors: type of country membership to the organization, type of international organization
Are We Heading Towards a Theory of Peacekeeping Politics?
I believe we are on our way. Now we have studies about why countries contribute troops, and also, we have this study about the reasons for not contributing troops. The whole picture has been taken. And as we know, contributions play the most important role in peacekeeping. They are the voices of the people of the UN. Contributions have many forms. But sending troops is the most controversial and the most difficult. Let us not forget about the people who are always there to make sure a mission is ready. They are the people making UN peacekeeping operations a reality. And I hope this research is useful to all the people involved in the process of requesting troops. Those people have a big job:
They might not wear uniforms, but they are also Blue Helmets!
