From Peacekeeping to Peacemaking

Given the support of the Mulroney government, many of the Canadian units under the United Nations in Yugoslavia were willing to bend the United Nations' rules of engagement when confronting Muslim, Serb, and Croat forces, establishing Srebrenica as a Muslim safe haven and defending it against Serb attacks. The Chretien government, however, assumed a more cautious policy. Gammer shows how understanding the government's role in this particular crisis contributes to our understanding of the role that political leadership plays in shaping Canadian foreign policy in general, as well as advancing our knowledge of the broader theoretical debates surrounding the legitimacy and effectiveness of humanitarian intervention in the internal affairs of state.