A rchive Date
[ 05-12-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.N ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mansur_toronto.html
War and peace and the role of the UN
By SALIM MANSUR - For the Toronto Sun
December 5, 2002
LONDON, Ont. - International politics, according to most observers since Thucydides, occur in a global environment of anarchy.
By anarchy, Thucydides didn't mean disorder, or chaos, but a situation in which sovereign political actors, states of varying sizes and resources, interact with each other in the absence of an overarching authority imposing order. Consequently, order, or balance of power, comes about through the efforts of states competing among themselves in pursuit of their own national interests.
Thucydides was a citizen of ancient Athens. His account of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century before Christ, was the first detailed study in western civilization of the causes of war among states in an anarchical environment. Thucydides is commonly recognized as the founder of political realism.
Political realists recognize the evil of wars. But unlike others, they understand the causes of wars are located in the condition of global anarchy, and in the evil designs of men.
Since neither can be abolished through legislation, wars have to be contained by superior forces called upon to maintain order, or by the cost of war made so prohibitive that anyone contemplating it for gains would be deterred.
This brings me to the subject of the United Nations and our hopes invested in its authority, as the preamble to the UN Charter reads, to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" by uniting "our strength to maintain international peace and security."
The issues of war and peace, of resolving disputes and mediating conflicts, rest with the Security Council consisting of its five permanent members and 10 revolving members. For the Security Council to act authoritatively and decisively requires consensus on matters brought before it, and unanimity of the five permanent members voting on a resolution moved in the council.
While the decision-making procedure of the Security Council is generally understood, there remains confusion as to the nature of resolutions it adopts.
Security Council resolutions referring to conflicts that have occurred during its lifetime, such as those pertaining to Cyprus, or to India and Pakistan over Kashmir, come under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter.
Chapter 6 refers to measures on settling disputes peacefully. This means the Security Council sets forth the conditions for dispute settlement, after it has taken note of a dispute, and makes itself available to facilitate and assist in the desired outcome.
The famous Security Council Resolution 242, passed in November 1967, was a Chapter 6 resolution setting forth the conditions for the peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Peacekeeping measures, with member states providing troops under the UN flag and placing them in harm's way to monitor and maintain ceasefires between disputants, and separating them without interfering in their internal affairs, were innovations under Chapter 6 provisions.
In contrast, a Chapter 7 resolution is directed toward a party posing "any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" as determined by the Security Council. Chapter 7 deals with collective security measures, and when a party is in violation of these measures, the Security Council may call upon members to "use all necessary means," including the use of force, to secure full compliance of its decision from the guilty party.
There have been only two sets of circumstances when the Security Council moved resolutions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. The first occasion dealt with the aggression of North Korea against South Korea in June, 1950. The second dealt with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August, 1990.
The recent Security Council Resolution 1441 comes under Chapter 7, indicating the unfinished business of Iraq's non-compliance with UN resolutions going back to the ceasefire terms of the Gulf war of 1991.
An appreciation of the finer points of Security Council resolutions can assist public discussions on matters of war and peace. An unintended benefit may be an end to the unnecessary charges of double standard frequently levelled against the Security Council, or its permanent members.
Salim Mansur is a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario. His column appears alternate Thursdays Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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