Friday, May 29, 2009

May 29 International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

It should be noted that May 29th is designated as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The history tells us that on May 29, 1948, the newly formed global organization United Nations, more specifically its Security Council established the first peacekeeping operation, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), based in the Middle East. In 2001, the General Assembly proclaimed 29 May as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers to pay tribute to the men and women who serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations and honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

Last year on May 29 the UN marked the 60th anniversary of its Peacekeeping Forces being deployed. Now that we are into the NATO 60th anniversary it is important to do an assessment of the lessons for the global security that history bestowed us with. I am especially concerned with the lack of "real" cooperation between essential organization such NATO, the UN, and the EU. Although there is much talk and plenty of bureaucracies, duplications and inefficiencies are common and almost always the rule. Do we need a major war or a severe crisis, so we can be as productive and visionary as the generation of leaders which established this prominent organizations in the post WWII period? Can the global financial crisis at least provide the catalyst for better and more efficient division of the arduous labor needed to maintain (preserve) the global security? Let's live some and we will see as a famous Russian proverb states...

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