The geographical scope, and within this the specific remits, of security organisations was a critical factor in the Falklands War.

“Wikipedia”Â?:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War explains:

“At first glance, it appeared that the U.S. had military treaty obligations to both parties [UK and Argentina] in the war, bound to the UK as a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to Argentina by the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (the “Rio Pact”). However, the North Atlantic Treaty only obliges the signatories to support if the attack occurs in Europe or North America north of Tropic of Cancer, and the Rio Pact only obliges the U.S. to intervene if one of the adherents to the treaty is attacked””?the UK never attacked Argentina, only Argentine forces on British territory. In March, Secretary of State Alexander Haig directed the United States Ambassador to Argentina to warn the Argentine government away from any invasion. President Reagan requested assurances from Galtieri against an invasion and offered the services of his Vice President, George H. W. Bush, as mediator, but was refused.”

How the US & other powers shape and nurture this development is the key, much like the growing/expanding PMC industry, if governments choose to ignore the issues and dangers at hand, then you’ll likely see a number of high-profile failures for this concept.

One could reasonably argue that the OAS owns the Haiti peacekeeping mission that has been an unmitigated disaster. Are we going to see more of these or something close to a qualified success like the AMIS AU mission in Dar Fur?

With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that security could be performed by other organizations, with the UN there to provide a sort of multilateral auditing capability.

The UN would surely have to lay down geographical limits to each organisation. But the present free-for-all would be centrally controlled and there might even be some central financing available – a subject worth exploring at next month’s NATO force transformation summit?