![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/hst-journeys\/files\/2018\/05\/Unstamp_emergency_force_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By Zachary Logsdon<\/p>\n
Note:\u00a0 This\u00a0op-ed is set in the late 1950s, at the time of the deployment of the first UN peacekeeping mission to the Suez Canal.<\/p>\n
From the tall windowed building on 42nd Street, New York City, comes monumental
\nnews. An emergency force, aptly named the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), is to be
\ndeployed to Egypt in order to try and help bring an ordered close to the recent fiasco over the
\nownership of the Suez Canal. The attempt made by Britain and France to steal the canal from
\nEgypt, an attempt at armed robbery on a scale so huge as to make John Dillinger look like a
\ncommon mugger, has collapsed in the face of American pressure and Soviet threats, and it seems
\nthat this disgraceful affair to be concluded. While many will marvel over the outrageous of what
\nBritish and the French have done, the real story here is the UNEF, and the promise that it has to
\nbe a potent weapon in the arsenal of peace, as it provides a model for future operations that is
\nindependent of the Security Council.<\/p>\n
We must look at the UN Charter to first see why the UNEF has the potential to be a
\npotent weapon for peace. Under Article 42 of the UN Charter, only the Security Council may
\nauthorize \u201cpeace enforcement\u201d missions.1 Yet the UNEF has not been set up as a \u201cpeace
\nenforcement\u201d mission, rather it has been invited by the Egyptian government and authorized by
\nthe General Assembly. In effect, Secretary General Hammarskj\u00f6ld and the General Assembly
\nhave got right around Article 42, the Americans, the Soviets, British, French, and Chinese to
\nestablish this new \u201cpeacekeeping\u201d force.<\/p>\n
This is critical for the success of similar future operations precisely because this
\n\u201cpeacekeeping\u201d model circumvents the gridlock of the Security Council and sets a precedent for
\nfuture missions that do not require Security Council approval. The Security Council is an
\nunwieldy instrument, and the inability of all five permanent members to agree on anything has
\nthe potential to prevent decisive action, such as in the case of the Suez Crisis where two
\npermanent members were the aggressors. In going around Article 42, the Secretary-General and
\nthe General Assembly have ensured that, provided the parties involved are willing to give peace
\na chance, the UN can become involved even if the Security Council cannot agree. This clears the
\nway not just for peace in the Suez Canal Zone, but the possibility of future such missions being
\ndeployed, as the Security Council will find it difficult to block such efforts. As such, we me
\nconfidently expect more missions similar to that of the UNEF, which can only further the cause
\nof peace.<\/p>\n
Some people will argue that the UNEF and the type of mission it sets the mold for will
\nnot be effective. They will say that without the support of the Security Council, such missions
\nwill be doomed to fail, and that we must continue to place our faith in the five permanent
\nmembers to authorize peace enforcement when it is necessary. However, I would remind them
\nthat the only peace enforcement mission that has been authorized was the intervention in Korea,
\nand it was only approved because the Soviet Union was boycotting Security Council meetings.
\nAs such, those who place their faith in peace enforcement overestimate the likelihood that the
\nSecurity Council would authorize peace enforcement missions, and are na\u00efve as to the political
\nrealties of the Security Council. It is crucial that the UN possess some way to circumvent the
\nSecurity Council in order to further, and the UNEF model gives the UN precisely that.
\nThe UNEF provides an excellent framework for future \u201cpeacekeeping\u201d operations, as it
\nestablishes a system whereby the General Assembly and Secretary-General can approve the
\ndeployment of troops to help implement peace agreements, even if the Security Council
\ndisagreed, or cannot agree. I cannot say how the Egyptian-Israeli conflict will end, however I do
\nbelieve that its best chance of ending peacefully is with the UNEF maintaining the demarcation
\nline between the two sides, and as Sir Winston Churchill put it \u201cto jaw-jaw is always better than
\nto war-war.\u201d2 In the coming months and years, we must press our leaders to support similar
\noperations wherever they are needed and requested, and we may confidently expect that such
\noperations will help further the peace and stability that we have enjoyed since the end of the
\nSecond World War and the Korean Conflict.<\/p>\n
Zach Logsdon is a 2018 Miami University graduate who is returning to earn a master’s degree in History.<\/p>\n
1 \u201cMiddle East: UNEF I Background,\u201d Department of Public Information of the United Nations,
\nhttps:\/\/peacekeeping.un.org\/mission\/past\/unef1backgr1.html.
\n2 Richard Norton-Taylor, \u201cJaw-jaw is better than war-war,\u201d The Guardian (London, UK), Sept. 10, 2015.
\nhttps:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/defence-and-security-blog\/2015\/sep\/10\/jaw-jaw-is-better-than-war-war<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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