Beyond Traditional Peacekeeping: The Case of Cambodia

Abstract

The United Nations involvement in the Cambodian conflict may well be remembered as an epic in the lore of UN peacemaking and peace operations. That involvement, spanning nearly a decade of negotiations and culminating with the tumultuous eighteen-month mission of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) is now itself mainly a matter of history. Before it was all over, it would require nearly 22 000 international staff (including 16 000 blue helmets), and an additional 60 000 Cambodian staff. It would draw staff from over 100 countries. It would cost in excess of $1.5 billion. A small UN presence continues to operate in-country, but the process of political reconciliation and reconstruction has been largely handed back to the Cambodians themselves.