Diplomacy: The U.N. Marches In

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The United Nations has been in the peacekeeping business for most of its 47 years, but never has it undertaken anything quite so ambitious. Beginning this week, the world body will put 36,000 military and civilian personnel on the ground in Yugoslavia and Cambodia, charged with meeting goals that extend far beyond keeping antagonists from each other's throats. The U.N.'s blue helmets are supposed to disarm and disband combatants -- many still seething over real and imagined grievances -- and prepare the way for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Nor is that all. They are also supposed to see to it that political negotiations can be conducted in Yugoslavia and democratic elections in Cambodia.

The new missions are more demanding and far riskier than any of the U.N.'s 23 previous peacekeeping assignments, nine of which are still ongoing. They are also far costlier. The 22,000-strong Cambodia enterprise carries a price tag of $1.9 billion over 15 months. In Yugoslavia, where hostilities continue to flare despite a formal cease-fire, the 14,000 troops begin with a one-year budget of $600 million, which is more likely to shrink than grow. But the commitment to protect Serbian enclaves in three war-ravaged areas of Croatia is open-ended, to allow for extensions in the negotiations being conducted by the European Community in Brussels. These two operations alone will cost more than three times the amount that the U.N. spent on peacekeeping around the world last year.

But can the blue helmets actually ensure a durable peace in Yugoslavia and put Humpty-Dumpty together again in Cambodia? Or will they bog down guarding cease-fires indefinitely, as has happened in cases like Cyprus, where a U.N. team has been in place for 28 years without bringing the feuding sides any closer to reconciliation? Only within the diplomatic community is there guarded optimism that the absence of East-West tensions, coupled with the expressed will on all sides for the operations to proceed, will make for a successful outcome.

Concerns of a protracted engagement particularly chill the U.S., which is footing 30% of the peacekeeping bill. With the economy less than robust, isolationism on the rise and the November elections approaching, Congress recently warned the Bush Administration that it may not fund large increases for U.N. peace forces. There is hardly any doubt that either the U.S. or other major donors will ante up, but so far little money has reached U.N. coffers.

Still, the missions reinforce the consensual approach of the post-cold war era and affirm a tenet held dear by U.N. diplomats: the price of peace, while steep, is ultimately less costly than letting war rage. The challenges ahead:

YUGOSLAVIA. When U.N. troops begin their patrols in Croatia by the end of April, their first task will be to break the stubborn pattern of mutual recrimination that has characterized nine months of warfare. Since the neutral soldiers will carry only light arms, their success will depend largely on whether the Serbs and Croats can be made to fear the international opprobrium that would attend any attack on the blue helmets.