- Group Five: countries participating in non-UN peacekeeping operations: Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Latvia, and Macedonia. The special cases: Armenia, Nicaragua and Tonga.
Group Five raises unique questions about the nature of UN peace operations. From now on, in principle, NCCs have the option of participating in peace operations, but not necessarily with the UN. NCCs have also the option to participate in regional peacekeeping missions, NATO-led, and even country-led peace operations. This group does not favor UN peace operations. Instead they question the body’s efficiency. The main question that arises is: Why does a UN member prefer to participate in non-UN peace operations? As always, the best response is the simplest:
For Group Five countries, UN peace operations are neither politically nor economically profitable, in comparison to NATO, country-led and/or regional peace operations. Also, to participate in UN peace operations the countries must provide their own equipment, their maintenance, and some financing. And in the USA/NATO-led coalitions, this is not a requirement. Another element is the time that the UN requires to reimburse the participating countries, because sometimes it is delayed due to the fact that it depends on when the UN members pay their general financial contributions. As a result, the DPKO states that the reimbursement date is the main concern for contributor countries. As a result, probably countries in Group Five prefer to provide troops to countries/organizations that could offer the reimbursement faster than the UN does. Many theoretical outputs have been obtained to support that statement:
On UN/UN peacekeeping policy reform, most of the countries do not have a strong participation in the debates. Peacekeeping is perceived as a strategic tool to increase political and/or economic ties with countries/organizations which can promote/benefit their interest. UN peacekeeping does not promotes/benefits their agendas, because otherwise they would have participated already. Instead, they have participated with NATO-led and country-led operations. On domestic political issues, their legislative bodies understand that it is more important to be part of country-led and/or NATO-led operations, because it will provide short-term economic and political benefits for their political agendas. Their domestic economic environment depends on their international economic relations because their economies are not fully developed; as a result, bilateral relations with their donors/supporters have the largest roles. Their foreign policies are strongly influenced by superpowers, and the need to be members of regional organizations, for example Cyprus and Macedonia in the EU. Also, Russia, the USA and the EU play a crucial role on their internal and external affairs.
There are three special cases: Armenia, Nicaragua and Tonga. Tonga offers the most interesting approach that explains its reasons. Tonga uses the argument that participating in the USA-led coalition is a means to thank the USA for their support against the Japanese troops during the Second World War.
