Peace and Quiet

U.S. troops patrol the globe.

Not all of the U.S. military's peacekeeping obligations make the news daily. The United States is currently bearing many international military burdens for the cause of peace, some under the aegis of the United Nations, some in missions authorized but not led by the U.N., and one independent of the U.N. (In two areas, the United States has troops both under the U.N. and on its own mission.) The costs of such peacekeeping missions? The Defense Department claims incremental costs of $2.6 billion for 1995. Some of the financial burden, however, is carried by the State Department, which claimed $1.1 billion in peacekeeping costs for 1994. The General Accounting Office is working on gathering figures for the total costs to all departments of U.S. peacekeeping missions.