Canadian Peacekeeping

My last overseas tour in the military was as a Peacekeeper in the Golan Heights in 1999. Canada's military has always been proud of its contribution to the UN Peacekeeping efforts around the globe since peacekeeping started in the late 1940's. Indeed on a Canadian Government website I read the following:

Peacekeeping is an important aspect of Canada's national heritage and a reflection of our fundamental beliefs. It is a dynamic concept that responds to changes in the international environment in order to continue to develop security for people affected by war. Canada builds on our established peacekeeping tradition to make strong and imaginative contributions to international peace and security.

Peacekeeping is also a significant component of Canada's foreign policy and our contribution to the multilateral security system. Fifty years of experience in peacekeeping and participation in an overwhelming majority of peacekeeping missions mandated by the United Nations Security Council has established an international reputation for Canada.

Now that sounds pretty good. Given the lofty ideals of our government, one would think that we would be right there at the top of nations contributing Peacekeepers to world peace.

Well . . . not exactly.

According to the UN Peacekeeping Website I was very surprised to find that Canada's current Peacekeeping record is miniscule in relation to the overall world effort. We are ranked 34th with 314 CanadianUN Peacekeepers deployed. Considering that Nepal and Ethiopia (not exactly economic powerhouses) each have 10 times more Peacekeepers than Canada, it makes me wonder just how committed we are to the whole concept.

Now I do know that we were contributing troops to Bosnia and are currently in Afghanistan which is not a UN operation, but even if you added that to the equasion, I think our contributions are still small. Especially when you take into consideration what a rich nation we are.

So much for lofty ideals. As it says in the government quote above, our peacekeeping has "established an international reputation for Canada". I just wonder what kind of a reputation it is.