I believe, with regard to military intervention, that the greatest success perhaps was when Rome destroyed Carthage. That was a success, since the objective was reached, Carthage was destroyed and the war was won. Another example of a success was when the United States obtained the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan, and the surrender was signed on a battleship or in a conference room. This is one success that we can measure in concrete terms.
With regard to peacekeeping operations, it is more complex to determine success. It depends on a series of parameters. So, when we take a United Nations mandate, we see a certain number of objectives. The first objective is to establish a political process leading up to an election and the establishment of a democratic government. Sometimes, the election does not occur as here, in Canada, we would like it to occur. Nevertheless, since it might be the first time in 50 years that people have gone to the polls, if the voter turnout was significant enough, if there was not too much fraud, the outcome is not so bad. Perhaps we might consider this a failure, but for that society it is a first step towards something of value.
Next, a government is established. There are other elements in a United Nations mandate as well, such as disarming the militia, reintegrating child soldiers, reforming security sectors, rebuilding infrastructure. We know that it might be impossible to ensure 100% success in each of these very specific areas of a UN mandate. However, if the UN force withdraws, it can say that, despite everything, although it did not reach 100% of its objectives, it gave that society the tools it needs to move a little further towards reintegrating the international community. Success cannot be measured in terms of all or nothing, in some areas it might be 50%, 60% or 80%, but the UN force can leave with its head held high because it has done something.
That is the response I can give you. If you compare it to the example that I provided, it is clear that it is not the ideal.