Logistical support for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in NATO strategic doctrine – part 1
Forms of peacekeeping
According to document MC-327, peacekeeping can be carried out through direct actions within specific military missions, which include: observation, troop deployment, and assistance during the transition period. The most elementary peacekeeping endeavor is an observation mission, the primary goal of which is to observe the situation and report observations and conclusions. Such a mission consists of 20 to several hundred people of various professions, and it is carried out by 2-3 person working groups composed of military or civilian personnel. The status and nationality of all team members are identical, and observers are generally unarmed.
Troop deployment constitutes a drastic form of military mission and occurs for the purpose of permanently separating warring factions and local forces to enable political dialogue by the conflicting parties and simultaneously protect the civilian population from further escalation of the conflict. This requires an initial ceasefire and a United Nations mandate for the deployment of peacekeeping forces. The introduction of neutral forces between warring parties leads to the establishment of a buffer zone and continuous monitoring of the negotiated terms of the peace agreement. This function is performed by regular armed forces equipped with light equipment and weaponry.
Assistance during the transition period aims to actively support the process of transitioning to peaceful conditions and to lead to the acceptance of a compromise political structure after a civil war or after the conclusion of fights for independence or autonomy. The task of peacekeeping expeditionary forces is to shape a new socio-political environment to enable the efficient functioning of formed authorities and to restore stable, peaceful living conditions for the population. During this period, paramilitary law enforcement forces are appointed in parallel – military police and civilian police – and the foundations of civilian state administration are created. The transition period requires great diplomacy from intervention forces, both in the political sphere and during the disarmament and demilitarization of local armed groups.
Military conflict prevention missions aim to diagnose crisis states and situations as early as possible in order to positively influence local flashpoints. There are established measures and ways of stimulating peaceful behavior and compromise-based shaping of crisis situations. One of them is the preventive deployment of peacekeeping forces, carried out through the introduction of multinational troops into areas potentially threatened by a crisis.
Humanitarian missions organized by NATO have a completely different character, as they concern the human dimension of suffering and misfortune in situations where local authorities cannot or will not provide the population with adequate services or elementary care and assistance. Humanitarian missions are organized in three fundamental cases:
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in situations of natural disasters or during man-made catastrophes,
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as a consequence of ongoing wars and fighting,
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during religious, political, and ethnic persecution.
Humanitarian missions can be carried out as elements of a peacekeeping operation or as conflict prevention actions, as well as completely independent civil-military operations. For the needs of effective action in NATO, three categories of humanitarian missions are distinguished:
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assistance in the event of natural or man-made disasters,
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assistance to refugees and displaced persons,
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humanitarian aid to the local population.
Assistance in the event of natural disasters requires the consent of the affected state and international coordination in terms of organization and transport, as well as during the use of specialized rescue and evacuation services. To this end, NATO maintains a register of national forces and resources that can be used immediately if necessary as rapid reaction resources. These resources also include the most needed military assets, and above all, NATO transport and evacuation systems.
Assistance to refugees includes aid during mass migrations of people voluntarily or forcibly displaced from their previous places of residence. NATO armed forces are mainly involved in implementing efficient transport and supply chains regardless of climatic and terrain conditions. Possessing appropriate transport means and supply resources, as well as appropriate procedures, they are the only ones capable of providing effective assistance in all climatic conditions and in any geopolitical situation. When providing assistance to refugees, it is very important to establish appropriate priorities for humanitarian evacuation and the movement of the population according to health status, age, and gender, and within certain family and ethnic groups.
Humanitarian aid missions are most often a consequence of armed civil conflicts or military operations. Due to the large scale of needs, they require the reconstruction of permanent civilian distribution chains in a specific region or on the scale of a given country. Humanitarian missions are very often accompanied by a crisis of local authority and the disappearance of state authority, which activates criminal elements and factors. Therefore, humanitarian supply and evacuation transports must often be escorted by covering forces and appropriately protected. Often, only armed escort and military transport columns allow humanitarian aid to reach the proper recipient.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka”, No. 3/2011.