Czech Soldiers and UN Peacekeeping Operations
Oldřich BUREŠ*, Lenka DUŠKOVÁ**
The article offers an analysis of the participation of Czech soldiers in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. After a brief introduction concerning the terminology and practice of UN peacekeeping, the authors examine the strategic, legal and financial aspects of Czech army contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. Training and preparation procedures are also reviewed, followed by a critical analysis of both the tangible and intangible benefits that the participation of Czech soldiers brings to the Czech army and the Czech Republic. One section of the article is devoted to a review of the key weaknesses and problems related to the participation of Czech soldiers in multilateral missions abroad. The authors were surprised to find out that little systematic research has been hitherto conducted when it comes to the analysis of the Czech army contributions to UN peacekeeping operations. This article is therefore also intended as a call for further research and analysis of this important subject matter.
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