lecture 12: the UN and peacekeeping Flashcards
UN Charter: Article 2(4) - Use of Force
Prohibition of Force: States cannot use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of other states.
Exceptions:
Force within a state’s own territory is permitted.
Humanitarian intervention or protection of citizens abroad is debated but not explicitly recognized under the UN Charter.
Self-Defense (Article 51):
Must be necessary and proportionate to the aggression.
Anticipatory self-defense (pre-emptive action) is allowed under customary international law if an attack is imminent and inevitable — but proving this is highly challenging.
Peace Operations:
Definition: Peace operations range from small observation and monitoring missions to larger peacebuilding efforts in conflict-afflicted societies.
Role: Originally, peacekeepers served as buffer forces and observers, often playing a neutral role in preventing conflict escalation.
Scale: These operations can be small-scale (Chapter VI of the UN Charter) or large-scale, such as those authorized under Chapter VII (e.g., Korea and Congo).
UNTSO
Created in 1948 to monitor the ceasefires after the first Arab-Israeli war
Unarmed military observers
Still monitors ceasefire agreements in Lebanon, Golan Heights, Sinai
United Nations Command (UNC)
Established: July 24, 1950, in response to the Korean War.
Significance: The world’s first attempt at collective security under the United Nations system.
Legal Authority: United Nations Security Council Resolutions 83 and 84 authorized member states to restore peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Leadership: The United States was designated as the leader of the unified command, known as the UN Command.
Purpose: A large-scale, UN-authorized military mission to repel the North Korean attack and create a unified command structure.
Notable Leadership: General Douglas MacArthur led the UN Command during the Korean War.
Peacekeeping- principles
- UN-mandated missions
- Consent of parties
- Impartiality
- Voluntary troop contributions
- Minimum use of force
Post-Cold War Peacekeeping
Shift from traditional peacekeeping to peace enforcement, with the UN invoking Chapter VII to authorize military force.
Expansion of missions beyond traditional ceasefire monitoring to include electoral assistance and human rights monitoring.
New missions in conflict regions like Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Haiti.
Focus on peace enforcement in situations where maintaining peace required more than just observing or keeping warring parties apart
Peacemaking
Involves diplomatic actions to address ongoing conflicts and bring hostile parties to a negotiated settlement.
Utilizes negotiation, mediation, and democratic decision-making processes.
Focuses on mutual dialogue to achieve fair agreements, removing the incentives for continued violence.
Unlike peacekeeping, peacemaking works directly to resolve the underlying issues of conflict.
Peacekeeping
Involves the deployment of national or multinational forces to help control and resolve ongoing or potential armed conflicts.
Typically authorized and often led by the United Nations (UN), though regional organizations or individual states may also conduct peacekeeping operations.
Requires the consent of the parties involved in the conflict and supports a ceasefire.
Peacekeeping forces are usually unarmed or lightly armed, using the minimum force necessary.
Focuses on preventing further violence by addressing harmful symptoms (e.g., direct violence) and creating safety to allow for efforts to stop future conflict.
Does not resolve underlying causes of conflict but aims to prevent escalation and create conditions for peaceful resolution.
peace enforcement
Involves the use of military assets to enforce peace, often against the will of the parties involved in the conflict.
Used when a ceasefire has failed or when there is a need to impose peace in a volatile situation.
Requires more heavily armed forces than peacekeeping operations, as it goes beyond simply monitoring a conflict.
Aims to enforce peace agreements or create a stable environment when diplomacy alone is insufficient to stop hostilities.
peace building
Focuses on reducing the risk of relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities for conflict management and building the foundation for sustainable peace and development.
Involves the transformation of social relations, aiming to repair systemic factors that were causing and exacerbating harmful conflict.
Often considered one of the least successful aspects of peace operations due to the long-term and challenging nature of addressing underlying causes of conflict.
Peacekeeping Origins
The League of Nations was involved in resolving a territorial dispute between Colombia and Peru from 1933-34.
The League appointed three member nations (Guatemala, Ireland, and Spain) to form the Commission for the Administration of the Territory of Leticia.
The military forces of each side were withdrawn, and an internationalized force of Colombian troops, under the supervision of the Commission, was deployed to police the disputed area.
What were the weaknesses of the League of Nations’ peacekeeping strategy?
The League’s strategy relied on the threat of force to prevent states from going to war, but ultimate authority rested on world opinion.
Economic sanctions were believed to be sufficient to deter states from aggression, but this was often ineffective.
Article 16 of the League’s Covenant, which authorized sanctions, reflected the successful use of blockades during WWI but didn’t translate well to later conflicts.
What was the League of Nations’ response to Japan’s 1931 seizure of Manchuria, and what was the result?
The League acted as an arbitrator and established commissions to investigate disputes.
Sanctions could follow where aggression was found, but in Japan’s case, sanctions were not imposed.
The League voted for Japan to withdraw from Manchuria, but Japan refused and left the League.
The League’s response was a reprimand, which failed to prevent further aggression, leading to the breakdown of the League’s authority.
What was the League of Nations’ response to Italy’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, and what were the consequences?
Limited sanctions were imposed but not applied by all member nations, and key products like oil were excluded.
The League made no attempt to limit Italy’s ability to wage war, such as closing the Suez Canal to Italian shipping.
Sanctions were dropped after Italy conquered Abyssinia in 1936.
This led to widespread belief that the League was unwilling or unable to use collective force to prevent conflicts.
What are the limitations and challenges of UN peacekeeping in relation to the decline of war?
The UN has played a key role in helping to end some deadly conflicts, but it primarily deals with the consequences of war, not its onset.
It is difficult to attribute the long-term decline in war to peacekeeping, as it is a relatively recent development.
Peacekeeping is effective at preventing the resumption of specific wars but its overall impact on global war levels is unclear.
Peacekeeping “works” when consent is given, but “fails” when it is needed most, as peacekeepers can only intervene if allowed.
The availability of peacekeeping may allow some wars to end that would otherwise last longer.
ending wars to soon trough peacekeeping?
Let it play out! –> prevent it from occurring again.
because there is not one winner so may leave issues fester
