Foreign Media: UN Peacekeeping Operations Face Severe Challenges

Reference News Network, August 9 According to a report from the website of the Japan Economic News on August 6, the United Nations peacekeeping operations are facing a severe crisis due to the impact of the United States reducing its involvement in the UN. The peacekeeping forces stationed in Lebanon suffered casualties again on the 5th of this month, as the U.S. opposes extending the mission, and it is expected that this peacekeeping operation will end by the end of 2026. At the same time, due to funding shortages caused by the U.S. withholding of dues, the UN is preparing to reduce personnel in other peacekeeping missions as well.

The mission that is about to end is the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). After Israel invaded Lebanon in the 1970s, the UN Security Council decided to deploy this force in southern Lebanon. With Israel expanding its military strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon in coordination with military operations in the Gaza Strip in 2023, UNIFIL had previously extended its mission until the end of 2026 in August 2025.

In March and April 2026, personnel from Indonesia and France participating in UNIFIL were killed in incidents such as local explosions. Under U.S. mediation, Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement on a peace framework in late June. However, the Israeli military conducted airstrikes in southern Lebanon again on August 5. According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the airstrikes resulted in one death and twelve injuries, and the situation remains uncertain.

According to diplomatic sources, the UN Secretariat had proposed a new peacekeeping plan to the Security Council to redeploy forces to replace UNIFIL, but it was opposed by the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power. As a result, it has been confirmed that this peacekeeping operation will cease by the end of 2026.

According to European media reports, due to concerns that the lack of UN peacekeeping forces could lead to further deterioration of the local situation, countries such as Germany are considering the feasibility of sending troops under the EU framework.

After beginning his second term, U.S. President Trump pursued an "America First" policy, ordering the withdrawal from 31 UN-related organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund, and continuously reinforcing a dismissive attitude towards the UN. Although the U.S. has the highest financial contribution ratio among all member states, it only paid a portion of its dues in 2025. This has exacerbated the financial deterioration of the UN and has already led to delays in the release of several major statistics.

The peacekeeping budget is also on the brink of collapse. UN Deputy Secretary-General Atul Khare revealed in an interview with the Japan Economic News: "Due to insufficient funds, we have been unable to pay troop-contributing countries for equipment costs over the past six months."

In peacekeeping operations, member countries send their own military or police personnel to conflict areas. The transportation costs for major equipment such as vehicles and communication devices, as well as expenses for barracks, communication, medical, laundry, and cooking, are initially borne by the troop-contributing countries, and then reimbursed by the UN Secretariat using the dues collected from member states.

In the UN fiscal year from July 2025 to June 2026, due to some member states not paying their dues, the relevant expenditures for peacekeeping operations were reduced by 15% compared to the budget. Currently, the UN still owes approximately $292 million in reimbursement funds to troop-contributing countries.

Khare called out: "We are in a predicament where we have to reduce the scale of peacekeeping personnel." He pointed out that the reason is that "some UN member states have failed to pay their dues on time and in full."

According to Khare, the countries currently sending personnel to peacekeeping operations are mainly developing countries such as Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Indonesia.

He expressed a veiled criticism of the U.S. for its continued withholding of dues and called for it to pay in full as soon as possible: "This is equivalent to low-income countries participating in peacekeeping operations providing interest-free loans to the wealthiest countries."

Currently, the UN is conducting 11 peacekeeping operations globally, with over 50,000 personnel on the ground carrying out missions. The UN peacekeeping budget for the fiscal year from July 2026 to June 2027 is $5.11 billion. Among them, the U.S. has the highest share of peacekeeping funding, approximately 26.1%; China ranks second with about 23.7%; Japan is the third largest contributor at about 6.9%. (Translated by Chen Rui)