Keeping the Peace in an Age of Conflict

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Keeping the Peace in an Age of Conflict

• Debating the U.S. Role

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Part 1 The International Communitys Changing
Role
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How did President Wilson respond to the horrors
of WWI?

• Diplomatic miscalculation had triggered the
  conflict.
• Clear procedures for conflict resolution could
  have prevented WWI.
• 14 points (1918)
• Self-determination
• Freedom of seas
• Free trade
• Arms limitations
• The League of Nations

Nothing is going to keep This world fit to live
in like exposing in public every crooked thing
that is going on. --Woodrow Wilson
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Why did America Reject a larger international
role?

• Opponents of the league argued that the new
  organization would be a tool of France and
  Britain.
• The Senate was concerned that they would be drawn
  into European conflicts.
• US troops could be called upon to defend the
  borders of a French colony in Africa.

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Why did the League of Nations Fail?

• Enforcement was difficult
• No effective mechanisms to force nations to honor
  the covenant.
• The requirement that all League members agree to
  important decisions often blocked action.
• League membership was far from universal
• US didnt join
• Germany and USSR were initially excluded
• Early failures (1930s)
• League failed to stop Japanese aggressioninvasion
  of Manchuria, Rape of Nanking.
• Powerless in the face of Italian and German
  aggression.

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The United Nations

• Like the League of Nations, the seeds for the
  creation of the UN were planted during war.
• Atlantic charter

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How was the UN organized?

• June 1945, 55 nations signed the UN charter in
  San Francisco.
• Common interest in maintaining global peace.
• 5 permanent members of the Security Council
• The veto system was conceived as a safety valve
  that would allow the great power to disagree
  without threatening the UNs existence.

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How did the UNs founders plan to prevent war?

• Under chapter VII, the Security council has the
  authority to call upon UN members to cut their
  economic, transportation, communication, and
  diplomatic ties with an aggressive government.
• Chapter VII also empowers the Security Council to
  take military action to maintain or restore
  international peace and security.

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Why did the Cold War undermine the UN?

• Initially the UN was overwhelmed by the bitter
  divisions of the Cold War.
• Veto systemUS-Soviet hostility often prevented
  the Security Council from making decisions.
• Korean War
• US led a UN forces to resist communist North
  Koreas invasion of South Korea.

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What was the role of the UN in peacekeeping
during the cold war?

• The UN was effective in dealing with disputes
  related to the breakup of European empires in
  Asia and Africa.
• 1948Monitored a UN truce between Israel and Arab
  neighbors.
• Indian and Pakistani armies over Kashmir.
• Suez Crisis of 1956
• UN peacekeeping troops took their positions only
  with the consent of the country or countries
  involved.

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How has the UNs role expanded since the end of
the Cold war?

• Decision making was no longer blocked by the
  gridlock of the Cold War.
• UN membership quadrupled
• New problems emerged
• Thinning of the ozone layer
• Spread of nuclear weapons
• AIDS

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How have peacekeeping operations changed?

• Initially the founders of the UN saw their
  primary task as resolving conflicts between
  states.
• Many of the conflicts raging today are fueled by
  militias that ignore government authority.
• Somalia
• UN forces found themselves caught in the
  crossfire among rival groups that did not respect
  negotiated agreements.
• Bosnia
• UN troops were sent in to save lives while the
  bullets were still flying. (peacemakers)

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THE US ROLE

• Initially isolationists
• Spanish-American War
• Protect US financial interests

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How did anti-communism shape US policy toward
international conflicts?

• CONTAINMENT
• The strategy of containing Soviet Communism
  guided US involvement aboard.
• Americans today are beings asked to define a new
  set of values and interests for determining our
  countrys involvement abroad.

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DEFINING TERMS

• Read the handout and answer the 5 questions
  proposed.