The civil war, the consequent famine and the collapse of governmental authority in Somalia led to a United Nations operation in Somalia with no precedent in the history of the Organization. The United Nations and Somalia, 1992-1996 is a comprehensive account of that experience, in which the United Nations Operation in Somalia and the Unified Task Force (led by the United States of America) carried out a broad mandate involving peace-keeping and peace-enforcement as well as the provision of humanitarian aid, the promotion of national reconciliation and assistance in rebuilding Somalia's devastated infrastructure and institutions. This volume includes more than 100 key documents relating to these efforts. An extensive introduction by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and a detailed chronology complement the texts. The documents reproduced include: Resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Security Council; Reports, statements and correspondence of the Secretary-General; Political agreements reached by the Somali parties; International appeals, plans of action and other materials related to the efforts of teh United Nations and non-governmental organizations to provide emergency famine relief and humanitarian assistance. (Adapted from publisher's abstract).

UN publication sales no. E.90.I.18

The Oxford Handbook on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations presents an innovative, authoritative, and accessible examination and critique of the United Nations peacekeeping operations. Since the late 1940s, but particularly since the end of the cold war, peacekeeping has been a central part of the core activities of the United Nations and a major process in global security governance and the management of international relations in general. The volume will present a chronological analysis, designed to provide a comprehensive perspective that highlights the evolution of UN peacekeeping and offers a detailed picture of how the decisions of UN bureaucrats and national governments on the set-up and design of particular UN missions were, and remain, influenced by the impact of preceding operations. The volume will bring together leading scholars and senior practitioners in order to provide overviews and analyses of all 65 peacekeeping operations that have been carried out by the United Nations since 1948. As with all Oxford Handbooks, the volume will be agenda-setting in importance, providing the authoritative point of reference for all those working throughout international relations and beyond.

This study examines the American military's experience with urban operations in Somalia, particularly in the capital city of Mogadishu. That original focus can be found in the following pages, but the authors address other, broader issues as well, to include planning for a multinational intervention; workable and unworkable command and control arrangements; the advantages and problems inherent in coalition operations; the need for cultural awareness in a clan-based society whose status as a nation-state is problematic; the continuous adjustments required by a dynamic, often unpredictable situation; the political dimension of military activities at the operational and tactical levels; and the ability to match military power and capabilities to the mission at hand.

The absence of effective government, one of the most important issues in current international law, became prominent with the failed state concept at the beginning of the 1990s. Public international law, however, lacked sufficient legal means to deal with the phenomenon. Neither attempts at state reconstruction in countries such as Afghanistan and Somalia on the legal basis of Chapter VII of the UN Charter nor economic liberalisation have addressed fundamental social and economic problems. This work investigates the weaknesses of the failed state paradigm as a long-term solution for international peace and security, arguing that the solution to the absence of effective government can be found only in an economic and social approach and a true universalisation of international law.