United Nations Security Council Policy on Africa

Abstract

The combined effects of the UN withdrawal from Somalia, and its failure to stop the genocide in Rwanda, prompted a retrenchment and reassessment of UN operations in Africa. Daunted and chastened by the scale of the problems they faced in Somalia and Rwanda, frightened of getting bogged down indefinitely in a complex and protracted conflict, and unwilling to take on the high risks of financial, personnel, and political losses, the major powers in the Security Council retreated from their initial post-Cold War enthusiasm for engagement in conflict. This was an across the board retreat, not one specifically associated with Africa. It was in Africa, however, that the Security Council’s immediate post-Cold War enthusiasm was most evident, both in terms of the numbers and the types of operations authorized. And it was, therefore, in Africa and because of Africa, that the retreat was the most keenly felt.