November
21, 2006: The UN currently has a record number of peacekeepers deployed. That's
81,000 armed (military and police) and 15,000 civilian personnel. This
operation is costing some $7 billion a year. The United States provides 27
percent of the money, Japan 19 percent, Germany 9 percent, Britain and France 7
percent each, Italy 5 percent, Canada and Spain 3 percent each, and China and
the Netherlands 2 percent each. The remaining 16 percent is picked up by other
UN members. The previous peak peacekeeper strength was in 1993, when 78,444
military personnel were in action, but a third of that was the UN protection
force in Bosnia. The current record was caused largely by the addition of peacekeeping
missions in Haiti, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sudan and (a major increase in) Congo
over the past three years.