University of British Columbia Press
Canada, the Congo Crisis, and UN Peacekeeping, 1960-64
9780774816373
9780774816366
Distributed for University of British Columbia Press
Canada, the Congo Crisis, and UN Peacekeeping, 1960-64
In 1960 the Republic of Congo teetered near collapse as its first government struggled to cope with civil unrest and mutinous armed forces. When the UN established a peacekeeping operation to deal with the crisis, the Canadian government faced a difficult decision. Should it support the intervention? By offering one of the first detailed accounts of Canadian involvement in a UN peacekeeping mission, Kevin Spooner reveals that Canada’s involvement was not a certainty: the Diefenbaker government had immediate and ongoing reservations about the mission, reservations that challenge cherished notions of Canada’s commitment to the UN and its status as a peacekeeper.
296 pages
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Prelude to Crisis: Setting the Stage for Canadian Involvement
2 Decision Time: Diefenbaker and the Dispatch of Peacekeepers
3 Deployment: Trials and Tribulations in ONUC’s Early Days
4 Constitutional Crisis: Peacekeeping in a Political Vacuum
5 Continued Chaos: Balancing Peacekeeping and Politics
6 The Challenge of Katanga: Peacekeeping and the Use of Force
7 Preparing for Withdrawal: ONUC’s Final Months
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index