Our system for launching United Nations peace operations has sometimes been compared to a volunteer fire department, but that description is too generous. Every time there is a fire, we must first find fire engines and the funds to run them before we can start dousing any flames. The present system relies almost entirely on last-minute, ad hoc arrangements that guarantee delay…

Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan,  We the Peoples: The Role Of the United Nations In The 21st Century

After fifty-five years, the United Nations has a rudimentary foundation for the prevention and management of deadly conflict. Attempts are underway to provide the Organisation and member states with worthy ideas and options for peacekeeping, rapid deployment and a UN standing emergency capability. Already, as a result of the multinational initiative in 1995-97, there are indications of modest progress, including complementary reforms at the political, strategic, operational and tactical levels. For example, by May 2000, eighty-eight member states had confirmed their willingness to provide resources to the UN Standby Arrangements System, including 147,900 personnel. The multinational UN standby high readiness brigade (SHIRBRIG) attracted wider participation and it has now been declared available to the UN. Next year, a permanent, albeit skeletal, UN Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters (RDMHQ) should be ready to assume the task of managing the critical early stages of UN operations.

         Combined, these arrangements hold wider promise. They have the potential to prompt corresponding political and financial returns, with a higher degree of confidence and commitment among the various member states.  Of equal importance, the UN finally has a foundation upon which to establish more ambitious ‘building blocks’. They will be needed.

       There are inherent limitations in the existing arrangements. They depend upon national approval and appropriately trained national units -- conditions that have frequently stymied and slowed responses. As constituted, these arrangements are for Chapter VI peacekeeping only -- a stipulation that could constrain their use in fast-breaking crises that necessitate humanitarian intervention or preventive deployments that require a Chapter VII mandate, permitting the limited use of force. There are options!

        Success, however, will necessitate a far more comprehensive, integrated approach. This report provides a brief overview of the national studies and initiatives launched to enhance UN rapid deployment capabilities. It reviews existing arrangements such as the UNSAS, the SHIRBRIG and the RDMHQ, identifying the limitations of each, as well as the options for improvement. To revitalise and accelerate the process of adaptation, this study calls for a more inclusive ‘soft power’ approach, initially to educate and inform interested parties, but also to generate new partnerships and a broad-based supportive constituency. How might we facilitate the elusive development of a reliable UN capability for rapid deployment to diverse emergencies? A vision-oriented, ongoing cumulative development process that builds on, and beyond, the foundation provided by existing arrangements toward a composite UN Standing Emergency Capability is feasible. This proposal entails a sequence of four stages that include:

•  reinforcing existing arrangements;
•  consolidating capability in a sound operational environment at a dedicated UN base;
•  co-location of national SHIRBRIGs and civilian elements into a multinational standing capability; and,
•  initiation of a composite standing emergency capability, integrating UN volunteers and multinational elements under a static operational HQ coordinating two mission HQs and tactical units.