According to the Economist, there are somewhere between 30 and 50 failed states, or countries in which there is tremendous turmoil and civil unrest. These countries are, arguably, perfect hosts for global terrorism and suicide bombers. The World Bank identifies 30 "low-income countries under stress" and Britain's Department for International Development worries about 46 "fragile" states. Is the US going to address all of these and send troops to each one? Doubtful. The UN is the world's only means to protect itself under a common goal.
The RAND Corporation, a think-tank, studied the efficacy of UN-led peacekeeping missions versus US-led efforts and found that the blue helmets were significantly more successful. Apparently, according to the study, 7 of 8 UN missions brought peace whereas only 4 of 8 US missions brought peace. I guess teamwork is the way to go...
The most interesting tidbit was that the annual cost of all 11 UN peacekeeping operations today is less than what the US spend in one month in Iraq. So it goes...
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