UN Peacekeeping

The First Mission-Suez Crisis, 1956

Background to the Suez Crisis

It was exactly 50 years ago that the first United Nations peacekeeping force was created and deployed. The force represented a significant innovation within the United Nations. It also marked the beginning of the new period in which peacekeeping would become a formal institution of conflict resolution.

In October 1956, the UN was faced with a major crisis threatening the stability of the Middle East. A few months earlier, the United States, following by the United Kingdom, decided to withdraw their financial aid for the Aswan Dam project on the Nile River. Subsequent to this decision, Nasser retaliated by nationalizing the Suez Canal and stated that all revenues from the Canal would be used to finance the project. The French and British reacted strongly, condemning the actions. Israel, for its part, was denouncing Egypt’s growing incursions into Israel from Gaza.

On October 29^th, Israeli forces launched an attack on Egypt, occupying the Sinai and Gaza Strip. British and French troops landed in the Suez Canal Zone a few days later, prompting the UN to call an emergency session to discuss the state of affairs. While the Security Council discussed the situation, no consensus on collective action could be reached due to the vetoes of France and the United Kingdom. The matter was thus referred to the General Assembly under the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, calling for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from occupied territories. The Assembly also called upon the establishment of the first United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF I), on the premise that the mission’s mandate be deemed neutral with respect to any political objectives other than international peace and security. The mandate of UNEF I was to “secure and supervise the cessation of hostilities,” as well as the withdrawal of the French, British, and Israeli armed forces from Egypt.[1] By late December, French and British forces had completely retired from the Suez Canal Zone, and by early March 1957, all Israeli forces were gone. Once the withdrawal complete, UNEF I served as a buffer between Egypt and Israel and supervised the ceasefire.

Peacekeeping: A Canadian Initiative

It was Canada’s External Affairs Minister, Lester B. Pearson who suggested the actual notion of a UN-led “peacekeeping” force to the special emergency session of the General Assembly on November 2^nd, 1956. In his speech to the Assembly, Pearson argued that current proposals did not go far enough to deal with tensions within the Suez. Instead, Pearson believed that what was needed was “a truly international peace and police force...large enough to keep these borders at peace while a political settlement is being worked out.”[2] This peacekeeping force would be deployed to facilitate settlements in order to bring about international peace and security. Moreover, a byproduct of this UN intervention would be to allow for the peaceful withdrawal of the British, French and Israeli troops.

Pearson’s suggestion culminated in the unprecedented formation of the first official armed UN peacekeeping mission, with as its first commanding officer, the Canadian General E.L.M. Burns. The sensitive and critically appropriate timing of Pearson’s proposal was key in the approval of the force and gained him the well deserved recognition of being the ‘grandfather of peacekeeping.’

The First Mission

UNEF I is referred to as the first official peacekeeping force because it is the first mission “to use military personnel to create a buffer zone between belligerents and to supervise the withdrawal of forces.”[3] While the UN had deployed several observer missions prior to 1956, their functions were limited to observing and monitoring ceasefires after an agreement had been concluded. These missions include the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), formed in 1948 to supervise the truce in Palestine in the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli war, and the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), established in 1949 to supervise the ceasefires between India and Pakistan.

50 Years of UN Peacekeeping

The deployment of the United Nations Emergency Force acted as a precedent for the way the international community would deal with conflict in the years to come. The Emergency Force formed the basic principles of peacekeeping, and in doing so, set an example for future peacekeeping deployments. The peacekeeping force was slowly transformed into peacekeeping missions with worldwide reach and a powerful impact which continues until today. The ground-breaking approach of the force also helped define Canada’s international military role for the next five decades, as well as its strong peacekeeping tradition.

While UN peacekeeping has enjoyed a strong tradition over the last 50 years, it has undergone many changes and has learned to evolve and adapt to new situations. As future conflicts are likely to continue to present complex challenges to the international community, future responses will require the courageous and imaginative use of the tools for peace, including peacekeeping