Peacekeeper to share experiences
By Russ Brickey
Staff
Writer
A former military adviser to the United Nations
will speak at Purdue Monday evening about his experiences as a global
peacekeeper.
Maj. Gen. Frank Van Kappen, now retired, was the
military adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
from 1995 to 1998.
The talk, titled "Peace support and crisis: Why?
How? And how does it feel, taste and smell?" presents an insider's view
of the United Nations' efforts to bring peace and stability to the world.
"While he had to be neutral while he was doing
his job, now (that Van Kappen is retired) he can speak out," said political
sciences doctoral candidate Maarten Rothman. "He is not speaking for
a country or a government anymore."
After retiring, Van Kappen became a vocal critic
of the United Nations' military policies.
In his presentation here, Van Kappen will address
how nations follow their own political agendas when deciding international
policy, the problems of deciding if United Nations' military mandates
are adequately enforced and the tendency of the United Nations to appease
Western opinion.
During his time as an adviser, Van Kappen was involved
in missions to Croatia, Bosnia, Rwanda and the East Congo, as well as
a highly publicized incident in 1996 in which Israeli troops shelled
a United Nations refugee camp in Lebanon.
Van Kappen was vocal in his criticism of Israel's
involvement, calling the attack "criminal," and grabbing headlines worldwide.
"The advantage to having (Van Kappen) speak for
political scientists," Rothman said, "is that he has actually been there."
Before being appointed to the United Nations, Van
Kappen was a major general in the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps of
Holland and a founder of the Netherlands Coast Guard.
He has been trained in the United States as a Green
Beret and at the U.S. Navel War College in Rhode Island.
During the early 1990s, Van Kappen was the head
of a joint U.S./Netherlands task force that fought drug traffic in the
Caribbean. For this service, he received the "Legion of Merit" citation
from the U.S.
Van Kappen is scheduled to speak April 16 at 8
p.m. in the LOEB Playhouse. A question and answer session will follow.
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