Beskrivning
Beskrivning
UNIFIL – hemmed into a small area ofSouth Lebanon amid fiercely conflictingforces – is the UN’s most difficult peace-keeping operation since the Congo, andGeneral Erskine is recognised as havingshown outstanding leadership and resil-ience as its commander. In this book hecomments on his international service withgreat frankness. UNIFIL’s day-to-day act-ivities and hazards are described, togetherwith his constant contacts with UN head-quarters, with the Israeli army and govern-ment, with the late Major Saad Haddad’sIsraeli-protected ’De Facto Forces’, with theneighbouring Arab states and the PLO,and with the various countries from aroundthe world that have participated inUNIFIL. He gives special emphasis to thehumanitarian work which he considered anintegral part of his mission. A chapter isdevoted to the Ghanaian army’s participa-tion in UNIFIL ever since the force wasestablished.The reader is given a refreshing examina -tion of the political realities surroundingUN operations in the Arab world, and ofthe possibilities for breaking the impasse.The author also gives, by description andimplication, a wide-ranging analysis of thenew military science of peacekeeping.Sir Brian Urquhart, who has written theForeword, was Under Secretary-General ofthe UN for Political Affairs, 1974-86, withspecial responsibility for peacekeeping.
