Commencing with a comprehensive overview, the course spans from the general structure of the United Nations as an intergovernmental organization to the specific chain of command for peacekeeping missions. It provides horizontal and vertical insights, delving into situations within the Security Council and the interactions between different pillars. Given the course's primary focus on preparing military personnel for UN Peacekeeping missions, the Command and Staff College deemed it crucial to emphasize the multidimensional aspects of a UN mission, including the civilian perspective. This emphasis was particularly highlighted by Col. Wiedekind and Col. Tillmann—officers, lecturers, and organizers overseeing the course—underscores the significance of a holistic understanding of UN missions through their own personal experience.
To adopt this comprehensive approach, the course not only integrated a diverse group of participants but also featured lectures from experts across various sectors, including civilians, police, military personnel, and politicians. Two notable highlights merit attention. Firstly, we had the privilege of hearing from Martin Kobler, a retired German diplomat and Special Representative of the Secretary-General in MONUSCO. His insights provided a unique perspective on both the UN Headquarters and field operations, particularly emphasizing the protection of civilians and shedding light on peace negotiations. We particularly acquired this insight through a fictious hostage simulation conducted with him. Participants were assigned different roles and had to actively engage in negotiating, highlighting the inherent challenges in such scenarios. Secondly, the course delved into the intricacies of information gathering within UN missions. This encompassed not only the techniques for collecting, processing, and analysing information from civilians but also an understanding of how the UN system simultaneously handles information from all missions. Additionally, we gained valuable insights into how different nations bring their own agendas into play, utilizing this information to achieve their objectives. This dynamic interaction adds a new dimension to the layered system of the UN, revealing the complexities of the organization's operations.
While these are some details, the whole course gave an overview of the challenges of a peacekeeping mission. Limited by the mandate and/or dependent on local ownership and the goodwill of the host country, a UN mission always moves between aspiration and reality. These discrepancies vary from mission to mission and are also influenced by financial factors and international will, while ultimately struggling to adhere to the basic principles of peacekeeping. For example, the mission must be impartial in its treatment of all parties, but not neutral in its execution of the mandate. Failure in this area could lead to the withdrawal of the host country's consent and the failure of the UN mission and these are just the problems of the surface. Giving even more insights into the reality of mission, we had lectures as well as participants showing us living conditions for UN personnel, problems they faced with civilians and violent situations they encountered.
The lectures not only provided valuable insights into the limitations of peacekeeping missions but also offered perspectives on areas where the UN has shown improvement over time. Moreover, they shed light on the impact that individuals can have in the field and the methods employed to achieve sustainable peace, including Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs. If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, I highly recommend taking the course.
During the final three days of the course, we faced a challenging MAPEX exercise, utilizing the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the program. In this exercise, we assumed leadership roles in a UN mission headquarters situated in the fictional country of Carana, recently emerging from a civil war with a fragile peace treaty. The participants were divided into two groups, each assigned specific roles mirroring those found in a real UN headquarters. Our task was to collaborate within our respective roles, receiving situational updates from the fictional country and collectively determining and briefing our developed two courses of actions to our force commander.
The course was an excellent insight into the work of the military in the context of a UN Mission, where both sides could especially benefit on the way of thinking of the other side and learn to cooperate between different parties. I want to thank the dedicated efforts of all three teachers/ organizers as well as the participants. While I may not immediately apply the theoretical experience gained, some of you have already or will soon. For this, I wish you all the best and a safe return home!