| Summary: | The thesis considers two former colonial powers, Britain and France, as interested states involved in contemporary peace support operations. It examines these states' pursuit of their perceived national interest through the exercise of their national military capability, but within the bounds of international operations. It also considers the particular dilemma which such action poses for the international community. The thesis is divided into three sections. In the first part, the two broad contexts of decolonization and peace support operations are depleted and the relationship between them is explored. The second part consists of four case studies of former colonial powers intervening in post-colonial territories within the multilateral context of the United Nations. Two cases of British involvement - in Cyprus and Rhodesia - are included, as well as two cases of French intervention - in Cambodia and Rwanda. The third part of the study, comprising a comparative analysis of the foregoing cases, examines both the national role of the interested state, and the UN response to it. Five groups of factors conditioning the extent of national involvement are examined: national interests and those of the states' domestic constituents; as well as diplomatic, military and financial capabilities. Each factor's impact on involvement is assessed, and it is determined that national roles can be both extended and constrained by these factors. This, in turn, has important ramifications for UN responses. Because the UN finds the roles of interested states problematic but necessary, a particular dilemma exists. The UN responds to that dilemma by seeking to adjust the roles in various ways. These UN responses are examined and evaluated with the aid of an original taxonomy which categorises them according to the size of the role sought and the sort of pressure applied. The responses are found to be inadequate in overcoming the UN's dilemma, which can only be resolved, not by expanding and reducing the roles of interested states, but by making them less problematic, as well as less necessary.
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