The outline structure of this thesis is as detailed below.
Chapter One: Introduction and Scope of the Study
This chapter consists of the background to the study and reasons for choosing this area of study.
It contains the objectives of the study, research questions, theoretical framework adopted, preliminary literature review, and research methodology used to gather necessary data. This chapter sets the stage for detailed research to address the requirements of the research topic.
Chapter Two: The Evolution of UN Peacekeeping Operations
Chapter two traces the historical evolution of peacekeeping operations from ancient times up to the twenty-first century. This approach is aimed at giving a succinct and firm foundation to readers in order to facilitate their conceptualization and understanding of the roots and concepts of UN peacekeeping doctrine and practice.
Chapter Three: Ethical Challenges to United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Republic of Congo with reference to the period (1960-1964)
Chapter three is the first case study in a series of four cases that attempt to demonstrate that UN peacekeeping operations are routinely involved not only in unethical practices but also illegal activities that are deliberately meant to seriously undermine host state sovereignty in
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pursuit of serving foreign interests and not to further national aspirations of host countries and their populations. The Congo peacekeeping operation generated serious controversies resulting from the mission’s “entrapment” into a complex web of interlocking local, regional and international crises that resulted in deliberate violation of Congo’s national sovereignty.
Chapter Four: Ethical challenges to UN and US “humanitarian” interventions in Somalia: from peacekeeping to peace-enforcement (1992-1995)
This chapter dispels the myth that since UN peacekeeping missions are authorised by the UNSC on behalf of the world community, they are inherently ethical undertakings meant to produce positive results such as durable peace and security, re-building war-torn societies and the promotion of the rule of law for the good of the world community. The chapter demonstrates that the joint UN/US military “humanitarian intervention” in Somalia was not driven by purely humanitarian motives and that the use of force by the UN sponsored missions in Somalia caused more harm than good for the ordinary Somali citizens. To make matters worse, the chapter established that the Somali population was left in worse political and security situation than what the UN peacekeepers found on the ground following the US abandonment of the mission.
Chapter Five: A Case Study of United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Rwanda 1993-1995 The chapter argues that the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda undermined host state sovereignty through the provision of a false sense of security for the host government and its population as the mission reneged on its duties to protect both Rwandan government officials and civilians during the genocide. Instead, the mission facilitated the establishment of a pro- Anglo-American regime in Rwanda through a regime change strategy that was implemented with the full knowledge of the UN peacekeepers whose unethical connivance with the RPF rebel movement was a conspiracy aimed at the demise of the host Rwandan government in violation of that country’s state sovereignty.
Chapter Six: Multilateral Response to Humanitarian Crisis in Darfur: A Case Study of UN Organized Hypocrisy
The chapter exposes the myth that Western powers are truly concerned about saving civilian strangers’ lives in African conflict situations when they organize highly publicized marches and campaigns such as the “Save Darfur” rallies in Western capitals. Instead of coming to the effective rescue of dying civilians in Darfur, the Security Council opted for the adoption of an
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ineffective and under resourced AU/UN hybrid peacekeeping mission that exposed the hypocrisy of UN peacekeeping missions in Africa as the reaction to the atrocities in Darfur were similar to that of Rwanda during genocide.
Chapter Seven: An ethical critique of the violation of UN peacekeeping principles
The chapter highlights the cardinal, normative principles of UN peacekeeping and how in practice they are manipulated and violated by the big powers through peacekeepers deployed in the field to undermine host state sovereignty. The chapter also proffers some theoretical explanations as to why UN peacekeepers do not genuinely come to the rescue of African populations in conflict situations.
Chapter Eight: Ethical and Policy Recommendations
This chapter provides scholarly and practical recommendations that will result in African states themselves prioritizing the security of their populations singly or collectively. It argues that African leaders should desist from relying on foreign UN peacekeepers that engage in unethical practices that undermine national sovereignty and the dignity of African populations in target countries. The chapter further argues that African leaders themselves should endeavour to be part of the solutions and not continue to be part of the problems that create conducive environments for conflict on the continent by desisting from applying divide and rule strategies.
The chapter emphasizes that where national dialogue to resolve domestic conflicts fail, African leaders should resort to regional political and security arrangements to resolve their conflicts before the AU is invited to intervene. Primarily the chapter recommends that African leaders should do some serious introspections as to why internal conflicts continue to surface on the continent and that they should give voice to the voiceless minorities that are generally marginalised and given a raw deal in the sharing of the national resources. Serious commitment to African based conflict resolution mechanisms should see an end to the involvement of UN peacekeeping missions in Africa whose primary agenda is neither the resolution of African conflicts nor the upliftment of African lives but rather, the entrenchment of western neo- colonialism and unfettered access to African natural resources that sustain their economies at the expense of indigenous African populations.
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CHAPTER TWO
The Evolution of Peacekeeping Operations