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.
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.
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
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).
`Review from previous edition ...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
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