NORWAY MILITARY ENGAGEMENT IN UN PEACE OP ERATIONS IN A NEW ERA

This article discusses Norway's policy regarding its military particip ation in UN peace operations. For Norway, as with other Nordic countri es, participation in UN operations is defined as one of the main objec tives for the armed forces. Although the relative importance of the No rdic countries has decreased over the years due to the involvement of other nations, they must still be considered as main contributors to s uch operations. The UN's increased importance as the main conductor of peace operations has led to changes also in Norway's policy towards p articipation with military units in these operations. The Norwegian UN stand-by force was adjusted and expanded in 1993. Norway's participat ion in peace enforcement operations authorized by the UN Security Coun cil has been limited. A main reason for this is the size of its armed forces. Norway is not capable of establishing larger military units, w hich are considered to be a prerequisite at least for combat operation s. However, Norway's present participation in the new generation of UN peacekeeping operations (e.g. UNPROFOR in former Yugoslavia) is exten sive.