UN Security Council: Pacification and Limitations

Extract

[...] In 1999, Kosovo was the scene of a Serbian ethnic cleansing, but the Security Council was unable to act because the Russians threatened to use their veto against any measures that could harm Orthodox Serbia. It was therefore NATO and not the UN that ultimately intervened to end the conflict11. Finally, the UN and the Security Council are often sidelined during major crises involving the two great powers. Indeed, we note that crises such as the 1948 Berlin blockade or the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis were resolved without the intervention of the Security Council but through bilateral agreements between the USSR and the United States. [...]

[...] Similarly, the UN's inability to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite the hundred resolutions adopted by the Security Council shows the inability of this body to ensure peace in certain regions of the world In the same vein, the multiplication of terrorist actions in the world highlights the UN's inability to face these new threats to peace. The attacks that took place in France are a perfect illustration of this. The UN and its Security Council are at the heart of the anti-terrorism fight. [...]

[...] The last result of these two events is the legitimation by the Security Council of unilateral military actions In conclusion, we can assert that while we cannot say what the world history would have been without the existence of the United Nations, we can nonetheless note that no general conflict has been declared since its establishment. While conflicts have not ceased since 1945, the UN and particularly the Security Council has nonetheless managed to resolve many local crises and remain undoubtedly a major actor in international relations. [...]

[...] The limits to its action highlighted in our second part are almost insurmountable for some (impossibility of imposing its will on sovereign states, impossibility of reforming its charter, and impossibility of enforcing its decisions). Others are of an organizational nature and would require a reform of its mode of operation. [...]

[...] This annexation is not recognized by the Security Council, which demands the withdrawal of Indonesia. On September Timor became a territory under the provisional administration of the United Nations before acquiring its independence in 2002. In 2006, the Council voted a new resolution to help the country to politically stabilize (peace building operation). Despite the undeniable successes we have mentioned above, the Security Council has still suffered many setbacks during its 70 years of existence and has proven powerless in the face of certain conflicts. [...]