The extent to which member states are prepared to surrender control of their forces to a foreign commander has proved a vexing issue. An additional area that requires close examination involves missions and roles. Overlapping assigned missions and roles are shown in table 4. Missions and roles also have to be tailored to actual conditions in the area of operation, with unanticipated local crises threatening to disrupt planning and timetables. These crises require innovative handling and occasional readjustments in assigned missions and roles.
Recent trends suggest that international organizations are building constituencies of their own.
The primary vehicles are NGOs and private voluntary organizations, which are establishing direct connections to the world ' s citizens. If this assessment is valid, new tensions are likely to arise among these private entities and regional organizations, as well as with the United Nations. The former often have agendas at odds with established state authority and the agendas of regional organizations. While the regional organizations and the United Nations have the capacity to provide the adhesive necessary to ameliorate tensions that are emerging, they have yet to devise successful strategies that tie together the national institutions of failing states with the plans and actions of the multiple players increasingly involved in humanitarian assistance and peace operations. The United States is well positioned to encourage efforts to integrate and coordinate the programs and activities of institutions and agencies concerned with the two fields of endeavor.