The United Nations: Maintaining International Peace And Security

Introduction

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that was established in 1945 after World War II with the aim of maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and being a center for harmonizing the actions of nations. The creation of the UN reflected a vision for a new post-war global order and a desire to avoid the horrors of another world war.

The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, following ratification of the UN Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of the other signatories. 51 countries in total signed the Charter at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, which took place from April to June 1945. The Charter has since been ratified by all 193 UN member states.

The UN headquarters is located in New York City and the organization has additional offices around the world. As of 2022, there are 193 member states of the UN. The organization and its specialized agencies were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

UN Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the six principal organs established by the United Nations Charter. Under the Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent members - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States - and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the UN General Assembly.

The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

A key role of the Security Council is authorizing peacekeeping missions and imposing international sanctions. The Council also establishes subsidiary bodies to deal with particular crises, as was the case in 1994 when the Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The Security Council has held over 5,000 meetings since 1946 and has taken nearly 2,000 substantive decisions, including the establishment of more than 30 peacekeeping operations and political missions.

While other organs of the UN make recommendations to member states, only Security Council resolutions are legally binding on UN member states. This gives its decisions particular weight and authority, especially when authorizing the use of force. Votes on substantive matters in the Council require nine affirmative votes out of fifteen, provided that none of the five permanent members vote against the measure by exercising their veto power. This “great power unanimity” is often achieved but not always, such as in the case of failed resolutions during the Syrian Civil War.

Expanding Security Council Membership

The United Nations Security Council consists of 15 members, including 5 permanent members - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Along with the 5 permanent members, the remaining 10 non-permanent members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for 2-year terms.

The non-permanent members are allocated based on geographical representation with 5 from African and Asian states, 1 from Eastern European states, 2 from Latin American states, and 2 from Western European and other states. In order to be elected as a non-permanent member, a country needs to secure at least 2/3 rd majority of the votes in the General Assembly.

The membership in the Security Council reflects the power structure of the world in 1945 when the United Nations was established. However, there have been growing calls, especially by developing countries, for reform and expansion of the Security Council by adding more permanent and non-permanent members to make it more representative of the geopolitical realities of the 21 st century.

The key processes for expanding permanent and non-permanent membership are amending the UN Charter and obtaining 2/3 rd majority in the General Assembly and ratification from 2/3 rd of UN member states including the permanent members. There have been proposals to add 6-10 more permanent seats along with 4-5 non-permanent seats but lack of consensus among UN member states on exact allocation of seats has stalled meaningful reform.

Implementing the UN Charter

The United Nations was founded on maintaining international peace and security. A key component of this is implementing the UN Charter to foster conditions for peaceful conflict resolution. The UN has numerous mechanisms to encourage the peaceful settlement of disputes between countries. This includes negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resorting to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means.

Preventive diplomacy is one of the most effective ways to reduce human suffering and the massive economic costs of conflict. The UN plays a pivotal role through preventive diplomacy to influence events before violence erupts. Some examples of preventive diplomacy efforts are fact-finding missions, observer deployments, or quiet diplomacy behind the scenes. The UN Security Council or Secretary-General can initiate these actions when tensions arise between parties. Preventive diplomacy aims to ease tensions before they escalate into full-blown conflict. It also helps stabilize fragile peace processes by building confidence between former warring parties. Overall, implementing the UN Charter through peaceful dispute settlement and preventive diplomacy is essential to averting violence and sustaining peace.

Preventing Conflict

Diplomacy and influence are key factors in the United Nations’ approach to preventing conflict. According to the UN Charter, one of the main purposes of the organization is “to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.”

The most effective way to reduce human suffering and the huge economic costs of conflict and its consequences is to prevent the conflict from occurring in the first place. The United Nations plays an important role in conflict prevention through the use of diplomacy and mediation, which can have a major influence on parties considering violence.

Some of the ways the UN engages in preventive diplomacy include:

• Offering a platform for dialogue between parties to peacefully settle disputes. The UN’s independence and impartiality facilitate mediation.
• Conducting quiet diplomacy behind the scenes to influence parties through non-public persuasion and advice.
• Deploying envoys and representatives to conduct shuttle diplomacy between parties and propose solutions.
• Providing good offices for parties to meet and negotiate under UN auspices.
• Establishing peacekeeping missions to ease tensions, separate forces, and stabilize conflicts.
• Imposing sanctions to compel restraint from violence.
• Issuing preventive deployments of forces to deter attacks.

When employed skillfully and at the right moment, UN diplomacy can be instrumental in resolving grievances, building trust between adversaries, and guiding parties away from destructive conflict. The organization’s unique position and deep experience with mediation provide invaluable leverage to promote peace through influence rather than force. Preventive diplomacy remains one of the UN’s most powerful and cost-effective tools for upholding global security.

Peacekeeping Operations

The UN peacekeeping operations are led and coordinated by the Department of Peace Operations (DPO). The leadership of each peacekeeping mission consists of three key positions:

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) provides overall leadership of the mission on the political and diplomatic front. The SRSG is responsible for engaging with national and local authorities, civil society, and other key stakeholders to advance the political process mandated by the Security Council.

• The Force Commander commands the military component of the peacekeeping mission. This person is responsible for protecting civilians, deterring violence, and creating a secure environment to support implementation of the mission’s mandate. The Force Commander controls the troop contingents contributed from various UN member states.

• The Police Commissioner leads the police component of the peacekeeping operation. The police provide operational support to national law enforcement and help rebuild accountable police services in the host country.

This integrated structure allows the UN mission to employ a combination of political tools, security measures, and policing capacities tailored to the needs on the ground. The leadership coordinates with UN country teams, humanitarian groups, and development actors to advance the mission’s objectives. Although each situation is unique, this standard model provides consistency across different peacekeeping contexts worldwide.

Current Peacekeeping Goals

Today, the goals of United Nations peacekeeping operations go beyond just maintaining peace and security between warring parties. Modern peacekeeping missions are also tasked with protecting civilians caught in conflict, assisting in political processes like elections and referendums, helping to uphold and promote human rights, restoring the rule of law in post-conflict regions, and extending state authority in the aftermath of conflict.

When it comes to protecting civilians, peacekeepers are authorized to use force if necessary to defend civilians under imminent threat of physical violence. Through patrols and presence in areas with high civilian populations, peacekeeping forces aim to deter attacks and violence against civilians. If violence does break out, peacekeepers have a duty to respond rapidly and robustly to stop threats and attacks against civilians. This civilian protection mandate represents a fundamental shift from traditional peacekeeping, and it has saved countless civilian lives in conflict zones around the world.

Upholding human rights is also a core goal of modern peacekeeping missions. This includes monitoring, reporting on, and preventing human rights abuses by parties to a conflict. Peacekeepers help provide security and support for human rights defenders and civil society organizations promoting human rights in volatile settings. And peacekeeping operations often include dedicated human rights teams tasked with investigating violations, accessing places of detention, and training military and police personnel on international human rights norms and standards. Integrating human rights into every aspect of peacekeeping is critical for protecting vulnerable populations and building lasting peace founded on justice.

Disarmament Efforts

The United Nations plays a critical role in disarmament efforts aimed at eliminating illegal weapons and regulating arms. This includes leading the search for and elimination of nuclear, chemical, biological and other weapons of mass destruction. The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs works to promote nuclear disarmament verification, non-proliferation and disarmament education.

The UN also regulates arms through peacekeeping operations and sanctions. For example, the UN has helped disarm ex-combatants in countries like Liberia and authorized arms embargoes against regimes in North Korea and Iran. Resolution 1540, passed in 2004, also obliges all states to adopt legislation to prevent non-state actors from obtaining nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

In 2006, the UN General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons. The treaty entered into force in 2014. As of 2021, it has 110 state parties that must establish national control systems and report on arms transfers. The treaty prohibits arms sales if they violate UN embargoes or are used to commit genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Through these disarmament activities, the UN aims to reduce the humanitarian impact of armed conflict and the proliferation of illicit weapons. Disarmament is viewed as essential to achieving UN goals of international security, stability and peace.

Countering Terrorism

The UN Security Council plays a leading role in the global fight against terrorism. Under the UN Charter, the Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. This gives the Council authority to take action to counter terrorism which poses a threat to peace and security.

The Security Council has strengthened its counter-terrorism efforts since the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The Council has adopted several resolutions to prevent terrorist acts and tactics. These resolutions aim to suppress the financing of terrorism, stop the movement of terrorists, and deny safe haven to terrorists.

The Security Council also established several subsidiary bodies to monitor and enforce its counter-terrorism efforts. The Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) was formed to monitor implementation of Security Council resolutions related to terrorism. The Committee against Al-Qaida oversees sanctions measures against individuals and groups associated with Al-Qaida. The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team provides the Council with information and analysis on Al-Qaida sanctions.

Through its counter-terrorism framework, the Council continues working to prevent terrorist acts around the world. The UN must strengthen its capacity to create conditions conducive to countering terrorism. With the Security Council’s leadership, the UN plays an indispensable role in uniting the global community to overcome terrorism.

Conclusion

The United Nations Security Council has played a pivotal role in maintaining international peace and security since its formation in 1945. As outlined, the Council deals with conflict resolution, accepts new member states, forms peacekeeping operations, and authorizes military action. Fulfilling its charter, the UN promotes peaceful settlement and preventive diplomacy to avoid conflict and human suffering.

UN peacekeeping missions now encompass broader goals beyond truce monitoring, like protecting civilians, upholding human rights, and restoring law and order. The UN also leads disarmament efforts, searching for and eliminating WMDs and illegal arms trading. Per its charter, the Security Council holds great responsibility for enforcing peace and can provide armed forces if needed. Lastly, the Council plays a leading role in counterterrorism by creating conditions to prevent terrorism and strengthening member states’ capacity.

In summary, the UN Security Council continues to evolve to address new challenges, while pursuing its founding mission of preserving world peace through collective security. Its success relies on cooperation between member states to implement the UN Charter in a changing global landscape.