Thanks for this encouraging article. I am glad to read that Namibia is doing well.

As you know, I was in UNTAG as well and, like all of us, I have fond memories of the country and the operation.

I am not sure what the reasons are for Namibias apparent success or at least its avoidance of descent. You name a few, and they are well taken, but the longer I observed conflict zones and the more operations I witnessed, the more I came to the conclusion that the human qualities of the leadership play an important if not decisive role.

I have always been hesitant to visit places that I remember positively, but your article makes me think of returning to Namibia one of these days.

Warm regards,

Wolfgang

Again, a very interesting piece, which prompts me to share with you and readers these two bits:

Re Charter: As a Ph.D. student at the then IUHEI in Geneva, one of the first things my professor of Public International Law, Prof. Lucius Caflisch, did was to give every student the little blue book, which I still keep in my library and from time to time, even consult. I used it in my teaching and circulated it among my students to see.

Re Peace Operations: Just a reminder that in 2015, when running for Prime Minister of Canada, then MP Justin Trudeau promised in his election campaign (as part of the “sunny days”) to “bring Canada Canada back” onto the international stage peacekeeping operations. This promise was not really acted upon, nor was it repeated in the recent election (Oct 2019) campaign.

Keep on the good work and best wishes for the holiday season!