I
spent the end of last week in Oslo at the invitation of the Norwegian Foreign
Ministry. The aim was to review their support to peace operations during the
past years and to reflect about future assistance. Norway is a small country
but a big player in areas of peace and conflict resolution, as well as a very
committed supporter of bilateral approaches. They are particularly keen in
strengthening the African Union´s peace machinery and also the UN´s.
But
peace operations, as they are implemented by those two organisations, are under
serious stress. The new types of menaces, the nature of conflict in many parts
of the world, the challenges the West is facing in non-Western societies, are
some of the key issues that call for a rethink of the deployments. The models
followed up to now are no longer suited for the violence we meet today, be it
in the Central African Republic, in Nigeria, in the North of Africa or in the
Middle East.
The
discussion is ongoing. But it can´t take long. The crises call for quick responses,
early results and smart political processes.
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