scholarly journals Resolving Civil Wars before They Start: The UN Security Council and Conflict Prevention in Self-Determination Disputes

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Beardsley ◽  
David E. Cunningham ◽  
Peter B. White
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Preventive Effects

A large literature has demonstrated that international action can promote the resolution of civil wars. However, international actors do not wait until violence starts to seek to manage conflicts. This article considers the ways in which the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reduces the propensity for self-determination movements to escalate to civil war, through actions that directly pertain to the disputing actors or that indirectly shape actor incentives. It examines the relationship between the content of UNSC resolutions in all self-determination disputes from 1960 to 2005 and the onset of armed conflict in the disputes. The study finds that diplomatic actions that directly address disputes reduce the likelihood of armed conflict, and that military force and sanctions have more indirect preventive effects.

What Future for the UN Charter System of War Prevention?

2003 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 590-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Falk
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Inspection Process ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

President George W. Bush historically challenged the United Nations Security Council when he uttered some memorable words in the course of his September 12, 2002, speech to the General Assembly: “Will the UN serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” In the aftermath of the Iraq war there are at least two answers to this question. The answer of the U.S. government would be to suggest that the United Nations turned out to be irrelevant due to its failure to endorse recourse to war against the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. The answer of those who opposed the war is that the UN Security Council served the purpose of its founding by its refusal to endorse recourse to a war that could not be persuasively reconciled with the UN Charter and international law. This difference of assessment is not just factual, whether Iraq was a threat and whether the inspection process was succeeding at a reasonable pace; it was also conceptual, even jurisprudential. The resolution of this latter debate is likely to shape the future role of the United Nations, as well as influence the attitude of the most powerful sovereign state as to the relationship between international law generally and the use of force as an instrument of foreign policy.

Part 1 The Cold War Era (1945–89), 30 The Falklands/Malvinas War—1982

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Etienne
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Self Defence

This chapter discusses the application of jus contra bellum in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas conflict. After briefly setting out the relevant facts and summarizing the positions of the main protagonists of the conflict as well as the UN Security Council and General Assembly and other member states, it analyzes the legal issues raised by the application of Article 2(3), 2(4) and 51 of the UN Charter, before evaluating the precedential value of the case. Special attention is paid to the alleged right to use military force for the recovery of pre-colonial titles, to the thesis of the exhaustion of the obligation to settle international disputes peacefully and to the relationship between collective security and self-defence, especially in light of the cessation of hostilities ordered by UN Security Council Resolution 502 (1982).

The Contemporary Legal Nature of UN Security Council Ceasefire Resolutions

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTIAN HENDERSON ◽  
NOAM LUBELL
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Additional Challenge ◽  
The United Nations

AbstractThis article sets out to examine the legal nature of ceasefire resolutions issued by the United Nations Security Council. While it has become common practice for the Council to issue calls or demands for ceasefires, their legal nature – and in particular whether they are legally binding – remains unclear. Furthermore, given the ubiquity of non-international armed conflict, there is an additional challenge with regard to the legal effect of such resolutions upon non-state armed groups. The article provides an analysis of these issues and concludes with a potential way forward.

scholarly journals United Nations Security Council Practice in Relation to Use of Force in No-Fly Zones and Maritime Exclusion Zones

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Law ◽  
Self Defence

This chapter examines UN Security Council practice with respect to the use of force in no-fly zones and maritime exclusion zones. It considers whether the law governing the zone is based or not based on the law of armed conflict (LOAC) and whether the law on the use of force inside the zone is essentially the same as that outside it. It also assesses the effect of the Security Council’s act of declaring or acquiescing in the zone on the law that is normally applicable in the ocean or airspace enclosed by the zone. The chapter also analyses whether the Security Council can authorize the use of lethal force for the purpose of enforcing a mandate despite the absence of LOAC authorization. It discusses the notion of a ‘third paradigm’ for use of lethal force and the concept of ‘self-defence’ endorsed by the Security Council (and the UN more generally).

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2474

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Claire Clement
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Collective Voice ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
First Time

On June 11, 2019, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2474 on missing persons in armed conflict. The resolution marks the first time the Security Council has agreed on a thematic text dedicated to this issue, lending its collective voice to call for more effective implementation of existing obligations towards missing persons—both civilian and military—and their families under international law.

scholarly journals A Gendered Imperative: Does Sexual Violence Attract UN Attention in Civil Wars?

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Benson ◽  
Theodora-Ismene Gizelis
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
The Impact

There is increasing awareness that sexual violence is distinct from other aspects of civilian victimization in civil wars. Few studies have examined the independent impact of such violence on responses to civil wars as compared to “traditional” forms of violence. This article explores whether reports of high levels of rape and sexual violence increase the probability of United Nations (UN) attention to conflicts and calls to action. In so doing, we combine original data on UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions with data on sexual violence in armed conflict and estimate the impact of sexual violence on UN attention to all civil wars from 1990 to 2009. We show that the effects of sexual violence on the number and level of UNSC resolutions are significant even when controlling for other important determinants of UN action. These findings have important implications for understanding how the UN has expanded its view on protecting civilians.

Self-Determination and Territorial Integrity: Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-653
Author(s):  
Valerie Muguoh Chiatoh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Third World ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Present Issue ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

African states and institutions believe that the principle of territorial integrity is applicable to sub-state groups and limits their right to self-determination, contrary to international law. The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon has been an ever-present issue of social, political and economic debates in the country, albeit most times in undertones. This changed as the problem metamorphosed into an otherwise preventable devastating armed conflict with external self-determination having become very popular among the Anglophone People. This situation brings to light the drawbacks of irregular decolonisation, third world colonialism and especially the relationship between self-determination and territorial integrity in Africa.

The UN Secretary-General and the Security Council

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Organizational Relationships ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
International Mediation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

The United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations Security Council spend significant amounts of time on their relationship with each other. They rely on each other for such important activities as peacekeeping, international mediation, and the formulation and application of normative standards in defense of international peace and security—in other words, the executive aspects of the UN’s work. The edited book The UN Secretary-General and the Security Council: A Dynamic Relationship aims to fill an important lacuna in the scholarship on the UN system. Although there exists an impressive body of literature on the development and significance of the Secretariat and the Security Council as separate organs, an important gap remains in our understanding of the interactions between them. Bringing together some of the most prominent authorities on the subject, this volume is the first book-length treatment of this topic. It studies the UN from an innovative angle, creating new insights on the (autonomous) policy-making of international organizations and adding to our understanding of the dynamics of intra-organizational relationships. Within the book, the contributors examine how each Secretary-General interacted with the Security Council, touching upon such issues as the role of personality, the formal and informal infrastructure of the relationship, the selection and appointment processes, as well as the Secretary-General’s threefold role as a crisis manager, administrative manager, and manager of ideas.

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