The Role and Effectiveness of the United Nations in Angola (1990-1995)

The United Nations' ability to effectively--and quickly--manage international conflicts is currently subject to close scrutiny and enormous skepticism. In light of the organization's failure to successfully mediate prominent disputes such as those in Somalia and Bosnia, many have began to question the role--if any--that the United Nations should continue to play in the changing political system. This study will examine the role and effectiveness of the United Nations in Angola, since the country's internal conflicts accurately represent the current\ud dilemma that the United Nations is attempting to mediate: violent civil wars that are fought by\ud different ethnic and ideological groups within a nation's border.\ud A study such is this is timely because the United Nations' peacekeeping objectives in Angola were originally influenced by the reality of the civil war. However, with the success of the Lusaka Protocol of 1994 in preserving peace inside the country, the UN's role must now adjust to reflect the present circumstances: in short, make the shift from mere peacekeeping to\ud peacemaking, reconstruction and development. This study will first examine the events that necessitated the United Nations' involvement in Angola: in essence, a synopsis of the country's political history prior to UN peacekeeping.\ud The following section will analyze the UN's role once missions were deployed in the country,\ud while effectively outlining the organization's actions within Angola and the subsequent results.\ud The last section will assess the United Nations' overall effect on the situations it attempted to resolve. The study will critique the successes and failures of the UN in implementing a long-term,\ud viable cease-fire in Angola. This examination intends to highlight how, when the United\ud Nations' objectives are clearly stated prior to a peacekeeping operation, it can indeed successfully mediate a conflict