If this is a UN force, it has to be under UN control or else it is an obvious occupation. Last I checked neither Russian nor Chinese citizens are in positions of authority with the UN peacekeeping forces and I doubt Europe would readily sign up their soldiers for this as hesitant as they have been in recent years to enter anything with the remote possibility of conflict.
We can agree to disagree, but I don't see a UN force entering the US anytime soon.
That's the problem. You believe there is something you can call "UN control".
Inferus, Michele has a point here the "Authority" positions for an intervention/peace-keeping/what-ever force is made up of command authority from the volunteer nations not the UN itself as there is no "UN Military" organization. Command of "UN forces" is vested in the military authority of the volunteer nations and usually has oversight by military command authority of one or more Security Council members for the bigger operations since (usually) those operations include forces from one or more Security Council nations.
Having said that I should make it quite clear that no Security Council nation, (and this tends to go down to whoever's volunteering forces but not always) is obligated to put their nations military forces 'under' the command of another nation. Specifically both the US and former USSR, (now Russia) have standing obligations that any UN force that they are a part of WILL be under their overall command. Period. Further no UN forces will be deployed to their nations for any reason without some very specific and quite explicit reasons AND permissions which while 'non-zero' are none the less pretty implausible. Not under UN jurisdiction anyway.
Now fun fact, there HAS been ONE (1) situation where the majority of the worlds military has in fact 'volunteered' to work together, (and surprisingly under US overall command) in the last 30 years and that included both Russian and Chinese forces being volunteered to participate in direct combat operations. (Both were polity declined by the majority of partners in the endeavor but logistical and other support was welcomed) Know what that was?
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
So in essence Desert Shield/Storm was what a "UN" military operation would look like and in fact historically that's been the case when it's deployed AS a military force. Peace Keeping and such are smaller and usually require less command and control to be in place but as the Balkans show this can greatly depend on the situation.
And no matter WHO's coming to visit there are those in the US who will see it as a occupation and invasion force and the US government is well aware of the fact. Even inviting them in for 'humanitarian' reasons won't go over well.
Neither do I, evidently. That's not the point.
It's not. No matter the "why" in the end it's a very sore point of sovereignty that either there has to be no recognized national government AND a majority acceptance within both the General Assembly and the Security Council to go in or the recognized government has to request UN intervention AND pretty much guarantee that any and all sides will RECOGNIZE the neutrality of the UN forces, (which no sane US government is going to be able to guarantee with any certainty) for the UN to commit forces.
Randy