A Small State's Search for Relevance: Peace Missions as Foreign Policy
2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 21; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13533312.2014.938580
ISSN1743-906X
Autores Tópico(s)Peacebuilding and International Security
ResumoAbstractDuring the cold war period, Portugal was largely absent from participation in United Nations Peacekeeping operations (UNPKO). However, since the end of the cold war, Portugal has reviewed its peacekeeping policy and has made a strong commitment to UN operations. The aim of this article is to determine Portugal's motives for participating in PKO, a costly and hazardous venture, especially for a small country with limited resources. I argue that Portugal's involvement in peacekeeping stems from the belief of policy-makers that such activities promote the country's national interests by enhancing its influence in key international fora such as the UN. However, the article also argues that the concept of national interest is best understood through the lens of constructivism, because constructivist scholarship has largely been interested in how international norms, rules and principles shape and constitute state understandings of practices and order. Peacekeeping has thus been pursued by Portugal as a vehicle for the pursuit of a socially constructed conception of the national interest, rooted in a commitment to particular hegemonic values and conceptions of international peace and security embodied in, and by, organizations such as the UN. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI am grateful to the reviewers of the manuscript who made valuable suggestions to improve this article.ABOUT THE AUTHORMaria do Céu Pinto is Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Minho's School of Economics and Management and Head of the Department of International Relations and Public Administration, Braga, Portugal. Her research focuses on international organizations, UN peacekeeping and Middle Eastern studies. She has recently published the article: 'Portugal's Intelligence Evolution in the Post-9/11 World", International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, 2012.Notes1 J.Q. Paixão, 'A candidatura portuguesa ao Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas', Política Internacional, Vol.11, No.14, 1997, p.71.2 'Ranking of Military and Police Contributions to UN Operations', 29 Feb. 2012 (at: www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/contributors/2012/feb12_2.pdf).3 EMGFA, 'Militares no estrangeiro', 31 Mar. (at: www.emgfa.pt/pt/operacoes/estrangeiro/otan-ue-onu/, 2012).4 COC/EMGFA, 'FND e Militares em Missão entre 1991 e 21/Outubro/2009', 21 Oct. 2009; Fundação Mário Soares/CIFCP, 'A participação portuguesa em missões de paz – Relatório final', Dec. 2006.5 Jennifer Pietras, 'Austerity Measures in the EU: A Country by Country Table', The European Institute (at: www.europeaninstitute.org/Special-G-20-Issue-on-Financial-Reform/austerity-measures-in-the-eu.html).6 Jana Urbanovská, 'Participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations: Theoretical Approaches', in L. Kovačovská and M. Jeníčková (eds), Crucial Problems of International Relations through the Eyes of Young Scholars, Praha: Nakladatelství Oeconomica, 2010, pp.486–99.7 Alexander Kocks, 'The Political Economy of Peacekeeping: Providing UN Peace Operations as Transnational Public Goods', Paper prepared for the Sixth Pan-European International Relations Conference of the ECPR SGIR, Turin, 12–15 September 2007, p.16.8 Andrew Blum, 'Blue Helmets from the South: Accounting for the Participation of Weaker States in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations', Journal of Conflict Studies, Vol.20, No.1, 2000 (at: http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/viewArticle/4334/4970).9 More recent works that discuss smaller states' interest in PKO are: Yee-Kuang Heng, 'Confessions of a Small State: Singapore's Evolving Approach to Peace Operations', Journal of International Peacekeeping, Vol.16, No.1, pp.119–51; Kabilan Krishnasamy, 'Bangladesh and UN Peacekeeping: The Participation of a "Small" State', Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol.41, No.1, 2003, pp.24–47; K.A. Bin Ahmad, 'Malaysia's Participation in a United Nations Standing Army: A Question of National Security', Master of Military Art and Science, Faculty of the US Army Command and General Staff, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 2002 (at: www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA406746).10 See, for instance, the entire issue of International Peacekeeping, Vol.14, No.4, August 2007; P.V. Jakobsen, 'The Nordic Peacekeeping Model: Rise, Fall, Resurgence?', International Peacekeeping, Vol.13, No.3, 2006, pp.381–95; A. Bergman, 'The Nordic Militaries: Forces for Good', in L. Elliott and G. Cheeseman (eds) Forces for Good: Cosmopolitan Militaries in the Twenty-First Century, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004, pp.168–86; P.V. Jakobsen, 'The Danish Approach to UN Peace Operations after the Cold War: A New Model in the Making?', International Peacekeeping, Vol.5, No.3, 1998, pp.106–23.11 With the exception of the most general and exhaustive study carried out so far under the direction of A. Moreira et al., Portugal e as Operações de Paz: Uma perspectiva multidimensional, Lisbon: Prefácio/Fundação Mário Soares, 2010.12 Qualitative interviews were conducted from 2011 to early 2014. The principal focus was the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence, where interviews were conducted in the Directorate-General for National Defence Policy. Interviews were also conducted with senior members of the Portuguese military (who participated in peace operations), in the Institute of National Defence and the Institute of Advanced Military Studies. Portuguese diplomats were also interviewed, some of them retired.13 The theoretical debate on how to define a small state is appropriate, but is not the focal point of the arguments that will be presented here. The small state approach in International Relations has not come up with a generally accepted definition; see Heiner Hänggi, 'Small State as a Third State: Switzerland and Asia-Europe Interregionalism', in Laurent Goetschel (ed.), Small States Inside and Outside the European Union: Interests and Policies, Boston: Kluwer, 1998, p.82. In looking for the lowest common denominator as a point of departure, population is most often used as an objective key indicator on smallness. Raimo Väyrynen, 'On the Definition and Measurement of Small Power Status', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.6, No.1, 1971, pp.92–3. In Europe, there is a minimal consensus on the size of small states regarding their population. The population-based definition of small states coincides with David Vital's often quoted proposal to set an upper limit for small states at a population of 10–15 million for developed states. David Vital, The Inequality of States: A Study of the Small Power in International Relations, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1987, p.8; see also Robert Steinmetz and Anders Wivel, 'Introduction', in R. Steinmetz and A. Wivel (eds), Small States in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities, Farnham: Ashgate, 2010, p.6; Jeanne A.K. Hey, 'Introducing Small State Foreign Policy', in J.A.K. Hey (ed.), Small States in World Politics: Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior, London: Lynne Rienner, 2003, p.4. Portugal population in 2012 has now exceeded the 10.6 billion landmark.14 Vital, quoted in Hey, 'Introducing Small State Foreign Policy' (see n.13 above), p.4.15 Goetschel, Small States (see n.13 above); Hey, Small States in World Politics (see n.13 above), pp.109, 116.16 Uffe Balslev, 'The Danish Case: International Involvement as the Small State's Remedy for Great Power Predominance', in Goetschel, Small States (see n.15 above), p.116.17 Per Hackkerup, 'Scandinavia's Peace-Keeping Forces for UN', Foreign Affairs, Vol.4, July 1964, p.675.18 Krishnasamy (see n.9 above), p.24.19 See also Alex J. Bellamy and Paul Williams, 'Who's Keeping the Peace? Regionalization and Contemporary Peace Operations', International Security, Vol.29, No.4, 2005, pp.54–5.20 A.C. 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Nye, 'Power and Interdependence in the Information Age', Foreign Affairs, Vol.77, No.5, 1998, p.86.53 Ibid.54 Joseph Nye, 'Soft Power', Foreign Policy, No.80, 1990, pp.153–71.55 Nye, Soft Power (see n.51 above), p.11.56 Lloyd Axworthy, 'Introduction', in Rob McCrae and Don Hubert (eds), Human Security and the New Diplomacy, Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2001, p.9.57 José Amaral et al., 'All for One, As Long As There Is Not One for Europe', Portuguese Journal of International Affairs, 2010, p.36.58 Ibid.; João G. Cravinho, 'A campanha portuguesa para o Conselho de Segurança', Relações Internacionais, No.28, 2010, p.25.59 Paulo Gorjão, 'Portugal and the Security Council: Is This Seat Taken?', IPRIS Policy Brief, 2010 (at: www.ipris.org/?menu=6&page=39), p.5.60 Martha Finnemore, 'Constructing Norms of Humanitarian Intervention', in Peter J. Katzenstein (ed.), The Culture of National Security, New York: Columbia University Press, 1996, p.157; see Velázquez, 'Why Some States Participate' (see n.20 above), p.170; Andreas Andersson, 'United Nations Intervention by United Democracies? State Commitment to UN Interventions', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.37, No.4, 2002, pp.363–86.61 Laura Neack, 'UN Peacekeeping: In the Interest of Community or Self?', Journal of Peace Research, Vol.32, No.2, 1995, p.184.62 Ross Matthew, 'A Regime Legitimacy Explanation of African Peacekeeping', 2001 (at: www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA551884).63 H.M. Palma, 'Europe by Force and by Will: Portugal and the European Security and Defense Policy', College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 7/2009, 2009 (at: http://aei.pitt.edu/11868/1/EDP_7_2009_Palma-3.pdf).64 F. Alegre Duarte, 'Portugal e as missões de paz no estrangeiro – algumas notas de reflexão', Negócios Estrangeiros, No.13, 2008, p.138.65 Ana Gomes (former Ambassador; member of the European Parliament), 'Portugal e as missões militares internacionais', Blog Aba da Causa, 18 Dec. 2008 (at: http://aba-da-causa.blogspot.pt/2008/12/portugal-e-as-misses-militares.html); Amaral et al., 'All for One' (see n.57 above).66 Portuguese Embassy in France, 'Portugal na Europa e no mundo: Programa XVIII Governo Constitucional – Política Externa, Integração Europeia e Comunidades Portuguesas' (at: www.embaixada-portugal-fr.org/pt/portugal-no-mundo.html).67 Daniel H. Griffith, 'The Dragon with the Blue Beret: China's Contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations', unpublished MA thesis, the Faculty of Graduate Studies (Political Science), the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), December 2010, p.10; Krishnasamy, 'Bangladesh and UN Peacekeeping' (see n.9 above).68 'Conceito estratégico de defesa nacional' (at: http://www.fd.uc.pt/CI/CEE/OI/NATO/Conceito_estrategico%20de_defesa-PT-1994.htm).69 MDN, Livro Branco da Defesa Nacional, 2001 (at: http://antigo.mdn.gov.pt/Publicacoes/livro_branco/Livro_branco.pdf), pp.19–20.70 E.M. Pereira and N.M. 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Reis Rodrigues et al., 'Os três grandes desafios da Defesa', in AAVV, Forças Armadas – Uma visão para Portugal, Loures: Diário de Bordo, 2009, p.66.79 Quoted in Fundação M. Soares, 'A participação portuguesa' (see n.4 above), p.645.80 Interviews with Henrique Castanheira (Ministry of National Defence – DGPDN) and Gen. Martins Branco, Lisbon, 16 Oct. 2013.81 Paixão, 'A candidatura portuguesa' (see n.1 above), p.67; Amaral et al., 'All for One' (see n.57 above), pp.34–5.82 The five permanent members of the UNSC.83 N. Coelho, 'Portugal e a NATO', CIARI (at: http://www.ciari.org/investigacao/portugal_e_a_nato.htm), undated.84 António Monteiro, 'A presença portuguesa no Conselho de Segurança em 1997–1998', Política Internacional, Vol.19, No.3, 1999, p.164.85 Ibid., pp. 164–5.86 Ibid., pp.163–4; J.M. Gomes, 'O Envolvimento Diplomático de Portugal na Bósnia-Herzegovina', Nação e Defesa, No.92, 2000, p.58; Vitorino, 'Nos Cinquenta Anos da NATO (see n.75 above), p.32; and Vitorino, 'Uma questão de credibilidade' (see n.76 above), pp.94–5.87 Gorjão, 'Portugal and the Security Council' (see n.59 above), pp.3, 5.88 Freitas do Amaral cited in Fundação M. Soares, 'A participação portuguesa' (see n.4 above), p.645.89 Duarte, 'Portugal e as missões' (see n.64 above), p.135.90 Among various officers, the most important was Major-Gen. Martins Branco as Peacekeeping Affairs Officer in the period 2001–02.91 Fundação M. Soares, 'A participação portuguesa' (see n.4 above), pp.679–80; F. Xavier Ferreira Sousa, 'A experiência portuguesa em missões de paz', unpublished manuscript, undated, p.9.92 Freire, 'O Modus Operandi' (see n.72 above), pp.84–5; Amaral et al., 'All for One' (see n.57 above), pp.24–5.93 Rodrigues, 'Os três grandes desafios da Defesa' (see n.78 above), p.186.94 Resolução (see n.71 above), pp.1982, 1987; Lourenço, 'Missões de paz' (see n.71 above).
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