The Bosnia Experience

Abstract

I am delighted to be invited to give the concluding address at this distinguished conference here in New Zealand, a country whose Armed Forces’ high reputation on the battlefield remains undiminished even after 25 years of peace. New Zealand is a country that has made a very substantial contribution, small though it is, to the business of preserving peace, truth and freedom and democracy throughout the world in the last two major world wars and before that time. In addition, since 1945 it has also played a very significant part in peace-keeping operations around the world. I believe that as peacekeeping moves up the spectrum of conflict towards war-fighting, the best performers on the battlefield undoubtedly make the best peacekeepers, and the company of Kiwis who I was fortunate to command in Bosnia were no exception to this rule. I also believe that it is particularly appropriate that I should be talking here at a Foreign Policy School, for of course security is always a balance of diplomacy and force — and in peacekeeping this is particularly so.