Official history of Austalian peacekeeping, humanitarian and post–Cold War operations Volume Three

Volume III: The good international citizen: Australian peacekeeping in Asia, Africa and Europe, 1991–1993

Authors: Professor David Horner and Dr John Connor

Published: 2014

Volume III of the Official history of Austalian peacekeeping, humanitarian and post–Cold War operations explores Australia’s involvement in six overseas missions in the years following the end of the Gulf War: Cambodia (1991-99); Western Sahara (1991-94); the former Yugoslavia (1992-2004); Kurdistan (1991); Maritime Interception Force operations (1991-99); and the contribution to the inspection of weapons of mass destruction facilities in Iraq (1991-99). These missions reflected the increasing complexity of peacekeeping, as it overlapped with enforcement of sanctions, weapons inspections, humanitarian aid, election monitoring and peace enforcement.

Authors David Horner and John Connor examine the experiences of peacekeepers on the ground in order to show how tasks were planned and executed, placing them within the broader historical and political backgrounds of each mission. This volume explores how Australian policy in the post-Cold War era was driven as much by the idea of being a good international citizen as it was by narrow national interest.

Granted full access to all relevant Australian government records, the authors have provided readers with a comprehensive and authoritative account of Australia’s peacekeeping operations in Asia, Africa and Europe at a time when hopes for a new world order began to dissolve.