The Trump administration has announced plans to reform United Nations peacekeeping operations, including the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in the Sahara (MINURSO), amid concerns over cost, effectiveness, and long-standing mandates.
“We are looking at a strategic review of the peacekeeping force in the Sahara that has been there for 50 years,” said Mike Waltz on Friday. Waltz emphasized that the US approach focuses on ensuring that peacekeeping missions solving problems “do not exist indefinitely.”
He explained that while long-term missions can help stop conflicts and create space for political solutions, they should not replace political processes themselves.
As part of the review, Waltz said, peacekeeping mandates, usually renewed annually, should be tied to political progress and assessed for efficiency.
A dedicated reform team, led by an ambassador-level official, is spearheading the effort. MINURSO, deployed in the Moroccan Sahara since 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and facilitate a referendum, is one of several missions under review. Other missions facing potential adjustments include UNIFIL in Lebanon, UNMISS in South Sudan, UNAMI in Iraq, the mission in Yemen, and operations in Colombia and Haiti.
The review follows growing calls since last year to dismantle MINURSO, which critics describe as “obsolete and ineffective,” arguing that the mission has failed its core mandate and now hinders progress rather than facilitating peace in the region.
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