NJC International History Prelims 2008

NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE General Certificate of Education Advanced Level PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2008 HISTORY 9731/01 Higher 2 Paper 1 International History, 1945-2000 20 August 2008 3 Hours READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name and registration number in the space provided on the answer paper. Write in dark blue or black ink. Write your answers on the separate answer paper provided. Section A Answer Question 1. Section B Answer any three questions. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. All questions in this paper carry equal marks. You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers. This question paper consists of 4 printed pages.

2 Section A You must answer Question 1. THE UN AND THE ROLE OF THE US IN PEACE ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS 1. Read the sources and then answer the question. Source A The Security Council Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations 1. Condemns all acts of violence in East Timor, calls for their immediate end and demands that those responsible for such acts be brought to justice; 2. Welcomes the offers by Member States to organize, lead and contribute to the multinational force in East Timor, calls on Member States to make further contributions of personnel, equipment and other resources and invites Member States in a position to contribute to inform the leadership of the multinational force and the Secretary-General; 3. Agrees that the multinational force should collectively be deployed in East Timor until replaced as soon as possible by a United Nations peacekeeping operation, and invites the Secretary-General to make prompt recommendations on a peacekeeping operation to the Security Council; 4. Decides to remain seized of the matter. UN Security Council Resolution 1264, 15 September 1999. Source B The French-led mission named Operation Turquoise was a mission conducted with the authorization of the Security Council although not under United Nations command. The Inquiry will limit its analysis of Operation Turquoise to those elements specifically relevant to its mandate: the role of the United Nations during the period until July 1994. Many of Inquiry's interlocutors have credited Operation Turquoise with saving a number of lives in a situation where few other initiatives were being taken to do so, although concerns were also expressed about a number of difficult issues of principle, i.e. with respect to the Operation's relationship to the United Nations. The decision to authorize the operation was not a unanimous one, and considerable concerns were voiced about the mission by those five members of the Council which abstained. However France was the only state with the military capability and the political will to intervene in Rwanda and the dearth of alternatives led other members of the Council to reluctantly support Operation Turquoise. Report of UN Inquiry into the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, 15 December 1999.

3 Source C American leadership is essential. Yes, the United States bears a major share of leadership in this effort. Among the nations of the world only the United States of America has both the moral standing and the means to back it up. We are the only nation on this earth that could assemble the forces of peace. The UN operation in Kuwait highlighted the degree to which the United States has an unrivalled capability of world-wide military reach. No other nation has the potential to organize and co-ordinate an international military effort. George Bush’s State of the Union Address to Congress in January 1992. Source D When 18 US soldiers were killed in Mogadishu in October 1993, the US-UN peacekeeping ‘partnership’ unraveled overnight. President Clinton ordered a full withdrawal of close to 37,000 US troops from Somalia. The United States had ended the United Nations’ effort to restore Somalia to nationhood. There was nothing to do but try to help the United States depart with as little lasting harm as possible. Unless the Americans remained in Somalia, UNOSOM had no real prospect of fulfilling the mandate set out in the Security Council resolution 814. There was no likelihood that other member states’ military could be recruited to enter the violent chaos for which the Americans were in part responsible and from which they were now disengaging. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali speaking to the press in 1997. Source E US military and financial support has been considered by the UN Secretariat and members of the Security Council as a necessity for the undertaking of peace enforcement mission. This assumption stems from a practical and genuine incentive of showing a preponderance of power to usher the perpetrator, in order to secure compliance and restore peace. For these reasons, UN secretary-generals tended to rely on the US. A major role for the US in the cases of Korea 1950 and Kuwait 1990 was considered inevitable. However it is not impossible for the United Nations to find adequate military support from other countries to resolve many conflicts, and the US leadership is not always necessary. The UN had authorized France to lead an operation in Rwanda (1994), Italy in Albania (1997) and Australia in East Timor (1999). The United Nations and Peace Enforcement, 2002. Now answer the following question. How far do Sources A-E show that the United Nations was ineffective in enforcing peace without the support of the United States?

4 Section B You must answer three questions from this section. 2. “The outbreak of the Cold War was due to US and USSR expansionist ambitions on post-World War II Europe.” Discuss this assertion. 3. “The US is better at winning the wars than at winning the peace.” Consider this view of US foreign policy from 1991 to 2000. 4. “The answer to why the US is able to dominate the global economy lies in the World Bank and the IMF.” How far do you agree? 5. To what extent do you agree that internal factors were more important than external factors in explaining Japan’s post-war economic miracle? 6. How far do you agree that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East since the 1970s made the region more insecure? GOOD LUCK!