YEAR IN REVIEW 2001: MILITARY-AFFAIRS

Military Affairs In 2000 the fall from power of Pres. Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia and the unprecedented high-level contacts between senior officials of North and South Korea eased tensions in these two often volatile regions. Israeli-Palestinian relations sharply deteriorated, however, which raised the prospect of another Arab-Israeli war. Wars between nations and within nations convulsed a large swath of Africa stretching across the continent from Ethiopia to Sierra Leone. Efforts continued to be made to keep children from serving as combatants throughout the world. In May the UN adopted an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child that set 18 as the minimum age for combat service. By the end of the year, 75 states had signed the protocol, and 3 had ratified it; 10 ratifications were needed for the protocol to enter into force. Pres. Bill Clinton signed the protocol in July even though the U.S. had never ratified the convention itself. More than 37,000 military personnel and civilian police from 88 countries were involved in the 15 UN peacekeeping operations in place around the world. In addition, the UN was involved in another 14 political and peace-building missions, 8 of which were in Africa.