One of the ironies of the post-cold war era is that there are now five horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Disease, Famine, Death, and Indifference), since the great powers no longer have strategic reasons for intervention in Third and Fourth World conflicts. Other than letting that indifference govern policy (in effect tuning out the media's reports of massive human tragedies around the world) the only choices seem to be making the United States a world police force and fire brigade, which is unacceptable both at home and abroad, or better equipping the United Nations to perform those missions. No “UN army” is feasible; coalitions must perform the enforcement role of the United Nations. Traditional peacekeeping is being overtaken by new types of crises, as in Somalia and Rwanda. This article proposes a standing United Nations fire brigade of international volunteers and discusses its missions, command and control, staffing, equipment, and costs. It weighs the advantages against the many obstacles and concludes that, on a limited and experimental basis, initiating such a brigade would be an innovative and symbolic decision for the United Nations' fiftieth anniversary in 1995.
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