Traditional peace-keeping is often inapplicable to internal wars, but the UN has been trying to develop appropriate responses to such emergencies. It is the unwillingness of the more powerful UN member states, not least the five permanent members of the Security Council, to provide sufficient resources for an operation's effectiveness that is the problem. It was inadequate UN involvement that allowed gross human rights abuses against the East Timorese people before, and especially after, the vote. Only then was the international community convinced to provide a proper input. No one can pretend that the referendum process was an unqualified success, nor that UN involvement has been smooth.
Peace processes are delicate, dynamic and risky.
It is difficult to persuade the international community to prepare effective contingencies until it is too late. The responsibility lies with UN member states, particularly those in the Security Council, to provide operations with sufficient resources to reduce the risks, including strengthening peace agreements in the first place. Yours sincerely, Alex Ramsbotham Head, UN and conflict unit, United Nations Association, UK Dear Alex, I do not agree the failings of the UN can be separated from those of its member states, least of all the permanent members of the Security Council. Their reluctance to provide resources for peacekeeping, most of all to risk troops, is a reality derived from bitter experience, notably that of the US in Somalia. I do not believe that many conflicts can be resolved through external intervention.