Selective Security: War and the United Nations Security Council since 1945

by Roberts,Adam

• ISBN13: 9780415474726
• ISBN10: 0415474728
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2009-01-02
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In contrast to the common perception that the United Nations is, or should become, a system of collective security, this paper advances the proposition that the UN Security Council embodies a necessarily selective approach. Analysis of its record since 1945 suggests that the Council cannot address all security threats effectively. The reasons for this include not only the veto power of the five permanent members, but also the selectivity of all UN member states: their unwillingness to provide forces for peacekeeping or other purposes except on a case-by-case basis, and their reluctance to involve the Council in certain conflicts to which they are parties, or which they perceive as distant, complex and resistant to outside involvement. The Council'¬"s selectivity is generally seen as a problem, even a threat to its legitimacy. Yet selectivity, which is rooted in prudence and in the UN Charter itself, has some virtues. Acknowledging the necessary limitations within which the Security Council operates, this paper evaluates the Council'¬"s achievements in tackling the problem of war since 1945. In doing so, it sheds light on the division of labour among the Council, regional security bodies and states, and offers a pioneering contribution to public and governmental understanding of the UN'¬"s past, present and future roles.

Table of Contents

Glossary	p. 5
Introduction	p. 7
The Inherent Selectivity of the Council's Roles	p. 11
Selectivity in the Charter	p. 12
Not a collective security system	p. 17
Selectivity and impartiality	p. 19
The Council as an instrument of powerful states	p. 20
The pursuit of international order outside the UN framework	p. 23
Selectivity, the Council and nuclear proliferation	p. 24
The selectivity of states regarding the Security Council	p. 27
Underlying reasons for the Council's selectivity	p. 28
Wars and Crises since 1945: The Overall Record	p. 31
Causes of the decline of international war	p. 33
The problem of civil war and other forms of conflict	p. 35
The scope of Council action and inaction	p. 37
Unintended effects of ceasefire demands, peace agreements and peacekeeping operations	p. 39
Three main categories of Council-mandated and endorsed operations	p. 41
Proposals for UN Standing Forces: A Record of Failure	p. 47
The Charter basis	p. 47
Proposals from Trygve Lie onwards	p. 49
The art of the possible	p. 50
Innovation and Flexibility since the End of the Cold War	p. 53
Expansion of Peacekeeping	p. 54
International administration of post-conflict territories	p. 55
Expansion of the category of threats to international peace and security	p. 56
Seeking application of the law of armed conflict	p. 57
Innovation and selectivity: two sides of a coin	p. 58
Accountability and Reform	p. 59
Security Council accountability	p. 59
Formal change: proposals for structural reform of the Security Council	p. 61
Informal change: reforms to working methods	p. 64
Proposals for an international organisation of democracies	p. 65
Conclusion: Problems and Opportunities of Selective Security Today	p. 67
Weaknesses in the Council's record	p. 68
Strengths in the Council's record	p. 72
Selective security: implications for UN member states	p. 74
UN Security Council-Authorised Military Operations, 1950-2007	p. 79
Notes	p. 85
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.