Table Of Contenti
UNIDIR/2003/36
The Security Council at the Dawn
of the Twenty-First Century:
To What Extent Is It Willing and Able
to Maintain International Peace and Security?
Pascal TEIXEIRA
UNIDIR
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
Geneva, Switzerland
NOTE
The designations employed and the presentation of the
material in this publication do not imply the expression of any
opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the
United Nations concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
*
* *
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations
Secretariat.
UNIDIR/2003/36
Copyright © United Nations, 2003
All rights reserved
UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION
Sales No. GV.E.02.0.6
ISBN 92-9045-159-9
The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)—an
intergovernmental organization within the United Nations—conducts
research on disarmament and security. UNIDIR is based in Geneva,
Switzerland, the centre for bilateral and multilateral disarmament and non-
proliferation negotiations, and home of the Conference on Disarmament.
The Institute explores current issues pertaining to the variety of existing and
future armaments, as well as global diplomacy and local entrenched
tensions and conflicts. Working with researchers, diplomats, Government
officials, NGOs and other institutions since 1980, UNIDIR acts as a bridge
between the research community and Governments. UNIDIR’s activities
are funded by contributions from Governments and donors foundations.
The Institute’s web site can be found at URL:
http://www.unidir.org
Cover page: designed by Diego Oyarzún-Reyes (UNCTAD)
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CONTENTS
Page
Preface by Christophe Carle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acronyms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction
The Charter in the Light of Reality and Experience 1
Chapter 1: New Threats, New Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
“Classic” or Inter-State Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
“Failed States” and Internal Conflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
International Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 2: Between Democracy and Oligarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Imperfect Composition, Yet Difficult to Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Inegalitarian and Consensual Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 3: A Patchwork World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Maintenance of International Peace and Security:
A Flexible Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A Practice of Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Chapter 4: The Security Council and Regional Organizations. . . . . . 37
Complementary or Competitors?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Exclusive Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Joint Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
v
vi
Chapter 5: Changing Instruments for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Prevention, Vital Yet Difficult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Statements (the message and the wording) and
diplomatic action (how the Security Council
conducts negotiations). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Sanctions: Making Them an Effective Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Peacekeeping Operations: From Crisis to Reform . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Transitional Administration of Territories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Post-conflict Peace-building: Who Orchestrates It? . . . . . . . . . . 75
The International Criminal Tribunals:
The Delicate Balance Between Justice and Peace. . . . . . . . . 77
Disarmament and Monitoring of Weapons
of Mass Destruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Counter-terrorism: What Ambitions for the Security Council? . . 86
The Use of Force: A Necessary Instrument
But for What Purpose?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Conclusion
The Security Council in the Era of US Hegemony:
Conditionsfor Relevance 93
Notes 97
Recent UNIDIR Publications 121
PREFACE
This study was originally published by UNIDIR, jointly with the Institut
Français des Relations Internationales, in 2002 under the title “Le Conseil
de sécurité à l’aube du XXIème siècle”.
The present edition, updated and translated into English, comes after
heated controversy surrounding the role of the Security Council with
reference to Iraq, and a continued upsurge of concerns related to terrorism
and to weapons of mass destruction, notably in the hands of non-state
actors.
The author, an experienced practitioner of Security Council diplomacy,
brings a personal and sobering perspective on the Council’s performance in
carrying out its “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security”, entrusted by the Charter of the United Nations.
Unlike numerous existing works, which deal with the Security Council
through the angle of one or a few specific international crises, Pascal
Teixeira’s focus is on the Council in itself, through the successive prisms of
major international security issues since the end of the Cold War. In so
doing, he provides a valuable contribution to explaining the day-to-day
functioning of an institution often in the headlines, but whose numerous
specificities and various practical modes of operation are all-too little
known outside the circle of experts and diplomats with direct experience of
the Security Council.
In the midst of numerous categorical—and often hasty—judgements
about the Security Council’s supposed irrelevance or obsolescence, this
book should provide food for better-informed thought.
vii
viii
As with all UNIDIR publications, the Institute takes no position on the
views and conclusions expressed by the author. UNIDIR, however, does
consider that this work is a useful addition to constructive debate, and
commends it to the attention of its readership.
Christophe CARLE
Deputy Director, UNIDIR
Geneva
October 2003
ACRONYMS
Peacekeeping operations or forces
ECOMOG ECOWAS military observation group
IFOR Implementation Force
INTERFET International Force in East Timor
ISAF International Security Assistance Force
KFOR International Security Force in Kosovo
MICAH International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti
MINUCI United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire
MINURCA United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic
MIPONUH United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti
MISAB Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the
Bangui Agreements
MONUA United Nations Observer Mission in Angola
MONUC United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo
SFOR Multinational Stabilization Force in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
UNAMSIL United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone
UNAVEM United Nations Angola Verification Mission
UNDOF United Nations Disengagement Observer Force
UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
UNIFIL United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
UNIKOM United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission
UNMEE United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
UNMIBH United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
UNMIH United Nations Mission in Haiti
UNMIK United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
UNMOGIP United Nations Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan
UNOMIG United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
UNOMIL United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia
UNOMSIL United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone
UNPREDEP United Nations Preventive Deployment Force
UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force
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