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Canada and UN Peace Operations: Re-engaging Slowly but Not so Surely

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The Palgrave Handbook of Canada in International Affairs

Part of the book series: Canada and International Affairs ((CIAF))

Abstract

Canada has an illustrious past in UN peacekeeping. It helped pioneer the early UN missions of unarmed observers and then proposed the first UN peacekeeping force in 1956. During the Cold War, Canada was the top contributor, a record that extended even to the successful missions of the early 1990s. However, after the disastrous missions in Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda, Canada lost enthusiasm and commitment. In 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau declared that “Canada is back” and promised that the country would once again contribute significantly to UN peace operations. But the reality has been very different, with Canada falling to the lowest level of contribution since 1956. Why has Canada become such a reluctant peacekeeper? What is required to regain the capacity for leadership and, realistically, what are the prospects for it?

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Correspondence to A. Walter Dorn .

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Dorn, A.W. (2021). Canada and UN Peace Operations: Re-engaging Slowly but Not so Surely. In: Murray, R.W., Gecelovsky, P. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Canada in International Affairs. Canada and International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67770-1_9

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