United Nations Operation in The Congo - UN Reflections On ONUC

UN Reflections On ONUC

The UN endeavor in Congo demonstrated that forceful intervention, when not planned properly, could turn the situation into an unstable civil war. Not only was the UN force ineffectual in alleviating the dispute, but also the Member States were divided on how the operation ought to be executed and what level of force should be used to carry out the mandate. Several peacekeeping contingents suffered casualties during the mission and the debt incurred from operations nearly bankrupted the UN. Once ONUC had departed, fighting resumed again. Until the end of the Cold War, the memories of the Congo haunted the UN as well as convinced the international organization that peacekeeping should remain consensual and non-threatening in nature, an attitude it maintained for almost three decades.