The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945

by Vaughan Lowe (Other), Adam Roberts (Other), Jennifer Welsh (Other), Dominik Zaum (Other)

Overview

This is the first major exploration of the United Nations Security Council's part in addressing the problem of war, both civil and international, since 1945. Both during and after the Cold War the Council has acted in a limited and selective manner, and its work has sometimes resulted in failure. It has not been - and was never equipped to be - the centre of a comprehensive system of collective security. However, it remains the body charged with primary responsibility for international peace and security. It offers unique opportunities for international consultation and military collaboration, and for developing legal and normative frameworks. It has played a part in the reduction in the incidence of international war in the period since 1945. This study examines the extent to which the work of the UN Security Council, as it has evolved, has or has not replaced older systems of power politics and practices regarding the use of force. Its starting point is the failure to implement the UN Charter scheme of having combat forces under direct UN command. Instead, the Council has advanced the use of international peacekeeping forces; it has authorized coalitions of states to take military action; and it has developed some unanticipated roles such as the establishment of post-conflict transitional administrations, international criminal tribunals, and anti-terrorism committees. The book, bringing together distinguished scholars and practitioners, draws on the methods of the lawyer, the historian, the student of international relations, and the practitioner. It begins with an introductory overview of the Council's evolving roles and responsibilities. It then discusses specific thematic issues, and through a wide range of case studies examines the scope and limitations of the Council's involvement in war. It offers frank accounts of how belligerents viewed the UN, and how the Council acted and sometimes failed to act. The appendices provide comprehensive information - much of it not previously brought together in this form - of the extraordinary range of the Council's activities. This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191614934
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	04/15/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Vaughan Lowe is Chichele Professor of Public International Law, and a Fellow of All Souls College, in the University of Oxford. He also practices in the field of international law as a barrister from Essex Court Chambers, London and has appeared in cases before English and International courts, and sits on international tribunals. Sir Adam Roberts is now President of the British Academy. Previous to this (from 1986 to 2007) he was Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, and a Fellow of Balliol College. His books include (ed. with Benedict Kingsbury), United Nations, Divided World: The UN´s Roles in International Relations, 2nd edn. (Oxford University Press, 1993), and (ed. with Richard Guelff), Documents on the Laws of War, 3rd edn. (Oxford University Press, 2000). Jennifer Welsh is Professor in International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Somerville College. She is the author, most recently, of At Home In The World: Canada's Global Vision For The 21st Century (HarperCollins, 2004), and editor of Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations (Oxford Univeristy Press, 2003). She was recently named a Trudeau Fellow, and is currently on a Leverhulme research grant working on a project on 'sovereignty as responsibility'. Dominik Zaum is Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Reading, and author of The Sovereignty Paradox: The Norms and Politics of International Statebuilding (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

Table of Contents

• 1: Vaughan Lowe, Adam Roberts, Jennifer Welsh and Dominik Zaum: Introduction
• Part I: The Framework
• 2: Edward C. Luck: A Council for All Seasons: The Creation of the Security Council and Its Relevance Today
• 3: Christine Gray: The Charter Limitations on the Use of Force: Theory and Practice
• 4: Adam Roberts: Proposals for UN Standing Forces: A Critical History
• Part II: The Roles of the Security Council
• 5: Nico Krisch: The Great Powers and the Security Council
• 6: Dominik Zaum: The Security Council, the General Assembly, and War: The Uniting for Peace Resolution
• 7: Mats Berdal: The Security Council and Peacekeeping
• 8: David Cortright, George Lopez, and Linda Gerber Stellingwerf: The Sanctions Era: Themes and Trends in UN Security Council Sanctions since 1990
• 9: Dan Sarooshi: The Authorization by the Security Council of Regional Arrangements to Use Force: The Case of NATO
• 10: Jeremy Greenstock: The Security Council in the Post-Cold War World
• Part III: Case Studies
• 11: William Stueck: The United Nations, the Security Council, and the Korean War
• 12: Roger Louis: The Suez Crisis and the British Dilemma at the United Nations
• 13: Bruce Jones: The Security Council and the Arab-Israeli Wars: Responsibility without Power
• 14: Rahul Roy-Chaudhury: The Security Council and the India-Pakistan Wars
• 15: Peter Carey with Pat Walsh: The Security Council and the Question of East Timor'
• 16: Charles Tripp: The Security Council and the Iran-Iraq War
• 17: James Cockayne and David Malone: The Security Council and the 1991 and 2003 Iraq Wars
• 18: Susan Woodward: The Security Council and the Wars in the former Yugoslavia
• 19: Rupert Smith: The Security Council and the Bosnia Conflict: A Practitioner's View
• 20: Gilles Dorronsoro: The Security Council and Afghanistan
• 21: Adekeye Adebajo: The Security Council and Three Wars in West Africa
• 22: J.P.D. Dunbabin: The Security Council in the Wings: Exploring the Non-Involvement of the Security Council in Wars
• Part IV: The Security Council and the Changing Character of War
• 23: Georg Nolte: The Different Functions of the Security Council with Respect to Humanitarian Law
• 24: Jennifer Welsh: The Security Council and Interventions with Humanitarian Purposes
• 25: Richard Caplan: The Security Council and International Administration of War-Torn and Contested Territories
• 26: David Scheffer: The Security Council and International Law on Military Occupations
• 27: Jane Boulden: The Security Council and Terrorism
• 28: Sarah Percy: The Security Council and the Use of Private Force
• Appendices
• 1: UN Peacekeeping Operations, 1945 - 2006
• 2: UN Forces, Missions, and Institutions not Classified as Peacekeeping Operations, 1945 - 2006
• 3: UN-Authorized Military Operations, 1945 - 2006
• 4: UN-Authorized Sanctions, 1945 - 2006
• 5: Vetoed Security Council Resolutions, 1945 - 2006
• 6: Uses of the Uniting for Peace Resolution, 1950 - 2006
• 7: List of Armed Conflicts and Crises, 1945 - 2006

Editorial Reviews

"This substantial, comprehensive, and authoritative volume contains 28 chapters by leading academics, lawyers, and practitioners, plus detailed appendices covering UN resolutions, sanctions, and operations."—Foreign Affairs

"A magnificent achievement...this book will stand out as an indispensable tool in the vast literature on the UN Security Council, set apart by the quality of its research, the wealth of extensive and carefully researched data it contains, as well as the diversity of viewpoints it offers."—Survival

"A useful reference work that supplements smaller studies...Summing Up: Recommended."—CHOICE

"This excellent edited collection...consistently high standard we should not forget that for better or worse the UN can only work well when its Great Powers work together. Analysts and policy-makers alike would be better prepared to bring this about if they read this important new book."—International Affairs

"A definitive interdisciplinary work on an important subject...The depth of knowledge and experience provides fascinating and essential reading for anyone interested in the area of international peace and security, regardless of their disciplinary background and whether practitioner or academic."—International and Comparative Law Quarterly

"An essential work, full of astute observations. Set apart by the wealth of ideas and diversity of viewpoints, this edited collection provides a seminal and well-balanced account of the Security Council's dealing with war since 1945."—German Yearbook of International Law

"An incredible achievement, magisterial and definitive. This is an essential work on anyone's bookshelf."—Professor Lawrence Freedman

From the Publisher