U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley negotiated with the Security Council over the Congo peacekeeping mission seeking budget cuts for American taxpayers. While she did not receive the demands she originally put forth, she did get some cuts, highlighting the capability and willingness of Ambassador Haley's peers at the U.N. to lower costs of missions.
"The broader American review of peacekeeping has alarmed some U.N. officials, foreign diplomats, and even some American officials. They view it as a hastily organized project concerned primarily with meeting budget targets by a hostile White House, not one rooted in a strategy for improving the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions.
Many of Ambassador Haley's peers agree that costs can go down, but not if they compromise the effectiveness of the missions they view as necessary. As of this posting, no other missions have been discussed as subject to cuts.
However, on 30 March 2017, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda made a statement suggesting that the ongoing crimes in the Congo could constitute crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. For a peacekeeping mission to lower personnel in this case could have serious ramifications for this crisis.
This article originally appeared in Foreign Policy on 30 March 2017