Europeans to the Front! The Role of France, Italy and Spain in the UNIFIL Enhancement

This chapter aims to evaluate this European leadership role in the post- 2006 UNIFIL through the prism of the principal troop contributors, i.e. France, Italy and Spain. Particular attention is devoted to the cultural clash this entailed between the culture of the UN peacekeeping system and the operating mentality inspired by Allied doctrine that European troop contributors imported. It is argued that this leadership role initially gave rise to stark cultural contrasts that gradually faded over time. In the light of the wider regional crisis engulfing Lebanon – with civil war in neighboring Syria and the establishment of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – these issues may acquire new relevance as UNIFIL may confront yet another round of turbulence.

ISBN:978-2-8076-0249-6

Trefwoorden:UNIFIL, DPKO, France, Italy, Spain