The Role of the United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era

2017 ◽  
pp. 93-110
Author(s):  
Johan Kaufmann ◽  
Dick Leurdijk ◽  
Nico Schrijver
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
The United Nations

Part 2 The Post-Cold War Era (1990–2000), 38 The Gulf War—1990–91

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
de Wet Erika
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
The Military

This contribution discusses the Gulf War of 1991-1991. It sets out the facts and context of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, followed by the adoption of United Nation Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) and the subsequent military reaction by the United States-led international coalition. It assesses the reaction of the main protagonists and that of the broader international community to these events. In doing so, it also assesses the legal basis of the military response by the international coalition of the ‘willing and able’ against Iraq. It determines whether it was based on Article 42 of the United Nations Charter, or collective self-defence in terms of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The final section examines if and to what extent this case has had an impact on (the legal basis) of military measures taken in the interest of collective security in the post-Cold War era.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Arab World ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Cold War

This book examines the role of the United Nations in the confounding geopolitical tensions arising from key international conflicts in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods, including the hostilities between Palestine and Iraq and between Libya and Syria. It explores how the UN has been shaped by the Palestine question and how the struggle over Palestine produced the institutions of “peacekeeping” and of the “UN mediator.” It also discusses the politics around the UN and shows that it is always constrained by geopolitics despite serving as a site of struggle over legitimacy claims by warring factions. The book is divided into four sections dealing with themes that are considered the most important elements of UN work in the Arab world: diplomacy, enforcement and peacekeeping, humanitarianism and refugees, and development. This introduction provides an overview of the literature on the UN that emerged in the post-Cold War period in line with the complexity and reach of various UN missions and agencies.

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