Squaring the circle? Collective and distributive effects of United Nations Security Council reform

Changing the composition and voting system of the Security Council, in an effort to increase the institution’s global legitimacy, is proving to be one of the most difficult hurdles to overcome for the global community of states represented in the United Nations (UN). This paper demonstrates that due to institutional hurdles, it is considerably more difficult today than it was in the early years of the UN to reach a winning coalition in the General Assembly to secure Security Council reform. In addition, the paper analyzes the effects that adapted patterns of voting, as prescribed by recent reform proposals, would have on the distribution of power among UN member states in the Security Council and on the probability that this institution can form a winning coalition, i.e., reach decisions. Our power and decision capacity computations are based on (modified) Penrose-Banzhaf-Coleman measures.     

联合国安理会改革的程序与决策--以对日本的影响为中心

随着60届联大的闭幕,围绕着扩大安理会进行的一系列论战也告一段落。但是由此引发的各种问题,如联合国的发展方向、安理会的作用以及联合国改革的未来影响等都值得去重新思考。在这些问题中,安理会的扩大、加入的程序、成员国的资格等也都需要再继续认真研究。对于所有国家来说,加入安理会常任理事国涉及程序性的问题,也涉及策略性的问题,这些问题不解决就无法实现“常任梦”。从这种意义上说,日本“争常”的思想与行为对于深入研究联合国改革及其影响具有典型意义。     

UN sanctions burden sharing: Article 50 of the UN charter and assistance to third states

This article proposes the establishment by the UN Security Council of a system of mutual support for third states whose economies have been adversely affected as a result of UN non-military sanctions. This system consists of several components: (1) creating new markets for the sale of goods and services of third states; (2) crafting of a logical UN sanctions costs methodology; (3) bringing into UN Security Council for a those bilateral and regional efforts involving cases of UN sanctions compensation; (4) devising norms and procedures for acquiring and pooling of the requisite funds out of which states' claims for damages attributable to UN sanctions might be satisfied; and (5) establishing a mechanism for the adjudication of such claims. While many obstacles admittedly exist to creating such a system of mutual support, the article argues that effective UN sanctions burden sharing is nevertheless important to international relations theory and practice, since UN sanctions appear to be increasing in frequency as they undergird many of the Security Council's contemporary enforcement actions.     

UN sanctions burden sharing: Article 50 of the UN charter and assistance to third states

abstract

This article proposes the establishment by the UN Security Council of a system of mutual support for third states whose economies have been adversely affected as a result of UN non‐military sanctions. This system consists of several components: (1) creating new markets for the sale of goods and services of third states; (2) crafting of a logical UN sanctions costs methodology; (3) bringing into UN Security Council for a those bilateral and regional efforts involving cases of UN sanctions compensation; (4) devising norms and procedures for acquiring and pooling of the requisite funds out of which states’ claims for damages attributable to UN sanctions might be satisfied; and (5) establishing a mechanism for the adjudication of such claims. While many obstacles admittedly exist to creating such a system of mutual support, the article argues that effective UN sanctions burden sharing is nevertheless important to international relations theory and practice, since UN sanctions appear to be increasing in frequency as they undergird many of the Security Council's contemporary enforcement actions.     

IAI Activities for the first quarter 1972

Responding to the increasing inadequacy of the UN and especially the Security Council (SC) in dealing with today's challenges and threats, Italy has actively taken part in the reform debate. Since the 1993 Memorandum and through the experience of the Coffee Club in the 1990s, the United for Consensus movement initiated in 2004 and its current mandate as non-permanent member of the SC for the 2007–08 period, Italy has campaigned against any increase in the number of individual permanent seats, which it feels would undermine its role and be an obstacle to a genuine European approach to SC issues. Yet, given the difficulties of SC reform, Italy cannot afford to limit itself to a merely obstructionist policy, which could prove sterile in the long run. Italy must promote and implement concrete initiatives that have the potential to re-establish the body's authority and relaunch multilateral dynamics at the international level, while reaffirming its own importance in the global arena.     

Female Peacekeepers and Gender Balancing: Token Gestures or Informed Policymaking?

Since the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 (2000), which is referenced in most of the mandates for peacekeeping authorizations and renewals as of its adoption, UN peacekeeping forces have begun a process of gender balancing. While we have seen an increase in the numbers of female peacekeepers during the decade 2000–2010 and variation in the distribution patterns of female military personnel, we do not know if female military peacekeepers are deploying to areas that are safest or to areas with the greatest need for gender-balanced international involvement. Because the decision-making authority in the allocation of peacekeeping forces rests with the troop-contributing countries, which might not have bought into the gender balancing and mainstreaming initiatives mandated by the UN Security Council, we propose and find evidence that female military personnel tend to deploy to areas where there is least risk. They tend not to deploy where they may be most needed—where sexual violence and gender equity has been a major problem—and we find only a modest effect of having specific language in the mandates related to gender issues.     

Does Membership on the UN Security Council Influence Voting in the UN General Assembly?

Recent studies report that temporary members of the UN Security Council receive favorable treatment from the IMF, the World Bank, or in US foreign aid in exchange for their political support for permanent members. Nevertheless, few studies have examined whether this favorable treatment and these benefits have actually made any significant changes in the member states’ voting behavior in the United Nations. To explore this question, we investigate whether membership on the UN Security Council influences a state’s voting in the UN General Assembly. In the analysis of panel data for 197 countries over the period from 1946 to 2008, the empirical results show that elected members of the UN Security Council tend to behave similarly with permanent members, especially with the United States, as the number of loan programs signed with the IMF and the World Bank increases. Also, US foreign aid significantly increases temporary members’ vote coincidence with the United States and other permanent members. In this regard, this article contributes to our understanding of state voting behavior and power politics in international organizations.     

United Nations Peacekeeping Decisions: Three Hierarchies,Upward Mobility and Institutionalised Inequality among Member States

ABSTRACT

This article explores the multiple and evolving hierarchies shaping UN decisions on peacekeeping operations. Three hierarchies—based on Security Council membership, financial assessments, and troop contributions—currently distribute influence over these decisions among UN member states. These hierarchies differ in their relationship to global stratification patterns, and in the states they empower. Their gradual “layering” has thus expanded the potential for upward mobility within the UN: states unable to increase their influence in one hierarchy can seek empowerment in another. Yet the UN peacekeeping case also highlights the limitations of hierarchy layering as an equalising mechanism in international organisations. New hierarchies supplement rather than replace older ones, and the degree to which they challenge existing rankings varies. Moreover, each new hierarchy inherently highlights, and creates institutional consequences for, a particular type of inequality among states. Consequently, hierarchy layering is best understood as recalibrating rather than eliminating institutionalised inequality in international organisations.     

Counter-terrorism and communities: an interview with Robert Lambert

The targeted sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council against individuals and entities suspected of association with terrorism are managed through procedures that infringe fundamental human rights, and there are no mechanisms for actual accountability. With the exception of the ECJ in Kadi, municipal and regional courts tend to consider the UN Security Council's resolutions and domestic measures implementing them outside the scope of judicial review. This article argues that the Security Council is bound to observe human rights even in the context of international security action, and that States are not exonerated from international responsibility for violations committed under the umbrella of Chapter VII resolutions.     

The peacekeeping capacities of African regional organisations

This paper assesses the various peace and security mechanisms that African regional organisations are establishing and other measures that they are taking to enhance their preparedness. In the mid-1990s, the United Nations (UN) Security Council responded to the widely perceived failures of several UN peacekeeping operations by encouraging regional arrangements and agencies to assume a greater role in the promotion of peace and security. As of December 2001, four African organisations had authorised 17 peacekeeping missions. Most of them have been beset by serious and sustained operational and political shortcomings. Recognising their limitations and the vacuum created by Security Council inaction, these and other organisations have undertaken various initiatives to improve on past performance and to prepare for future engagements. A review of their decision-making processes, staffing, mission planning and support, peacekeeping training and financial resources suggests that, while they have made some progress, most organisations are still far from being able to take on the responsibilities that the international community would like them to assume.     

后金融危机时代非洲国家对亚洲的战略性依赖

21世纪之初，世界格局面临大动荡和大调整的历史转折时期，非洲与亚洲又开始了新一轮的重新接近与合作。这种接近、合作及互为战略依托的趋势注定将是一个较长的历史过程。非洲国家认为在国际金融与经济危机爆发大背景下登上世界舞台中心的二十国集团（G20）已迅速成为推动构建新的国际政治经济秩序、提升新兴大国影响力的主要国际机制和重要平台之一。虽然非洲国家认为自己在G20中的代表性不足，但仍乐见从G8到G20的全球治理机制的转变，并希望加强与新兴大国的合作并从中获益。在涉及国际政治核心权力重新分配的安理会改革问题和气候变化问题上，非洲也十分倚重亚洲的支持与合作。     

‘Walking the tightrope’: The Kosovo conflict and Russia in European security, 1998–August 1999

This article argues that Russia has pursued a policy of inclusive multipolarity towards European security after Primakov's appointment as Foreign Minister in 1996. This policy focused on three dimensions to constrain NATO and ensure a Russian voice in Europe. First, ties with NATO; second, the pursuit of OSCE reform and a European ‘Security Charter'; third, the primacy of the UN Security Council in international affairs. NATO actions in the Kosovo crisis deeply undermined all dimensions of this policy. However, inclusive multipolarity was not discarded by the Russian leadership. The tortuous path of Russian accommodation after May 1999 highlighted Russian attempts to reinstate this policy and restore a Russian voice in European security affairs — with limited success. This article examines the evolution of Russian shifts in this crisis until Vladimir Putin's appointment as Prime Minister in August 1999.     

The politics of security sector reform in ‘fragile’ or ‘post-conflict’ settings: a critical review of the experience in Timor-Leste

Security sector reform (SSR) policy has, for the better part of a decade, been viewed as instrumental to the larger international project of improving and strengthening the ‘capacity’ of post-conflict and ‘fragile’ states. The current policy approach, which represents a merging of security and development agendas in the post-Cold War era, is based on the premise that fragmented, ineffective, poorly managed and politicised state security institutions threaten political stability and undermine poverty reduction and sustainable development goals. The objective of this article is to examine aspects of what has been described as the ‘SSR policy-practice gap’ that arose in the course of implementing SSR policy in Timor-Leste by analysing the systemic basis of the gap. An analytical framework that untangles the relationship between SSR policy objectives, targets and outcomes is presented in concert with a discussion of the social and political circumstances that confronted international organisations and donor countries when they sought to implement SSR policy in Timor-Leste. By using the analytical framework to assess the policy coherence between SSR objectives and the SSR programme contained in UN Security Council Resolution 1704, the ubiquitous disconnect between SSR ‘Gospel and Reality’ is pulled more sharply into focus.     

Humanitarian Emergencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC): Toward a Cooperative Arrangement between the ICC and UN Security Council

Erratum . International Studies Perspectives 6:4, 431-466
This article analyzes the role of humanitarian intervention in bringing together the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council. It argues that a framework for cooperation between the ICC and Security Council is needed to facilitate a coordinated response to humanitarian emergencies. One of the concepts explored is a mutual legitimacy push, or how the ICC and Security Council can lend effective assistance to one another when responding to humanitarian emergencies. Such a push will not only serve to enhance a response to humanitarian disasters but also close the "critical gap" between the moral legitimacy of international humanitarian action and the legality of the UN Charter. The article concludes that a cooperative relationship will not politicize the ICC, and that the ICC and the Security Council, can, through institutional re-engineering, achieve mutual political benefits.     

Reading “Threats to International Peace and Security,” 1946-2005

In the United Nations Charter the notion of the “threat to international peace and security” is designed to play a key enabling role in framing its collective security functions. Taking a 60-year period from the UN's founding, this article examines how the UN Security Council has developed the notion of the “threat to international peace and security” through its resolutions, and what this evolution might mean for the notion of collective security and the Council's role in it.     

Multilateralism in a unipolar world: the UN Security Council and Iraq

The end of the cold war brought a new era in international politicsthat had the potential for creating a more cooperative and peacefulworld. At the heart of this ‘new world order’ wasto be the United Nations Security Council, which would finallybe able to fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter. Inthe immediate post-cold war years it appeared that this optimismwas well founded as the Security Council became increasinglyactive in authorizing peacekeeping and peace-building missions.Just over a decade later, however, the crisis over Iraq againbrought serious concerns regarding the UN's purpose and legitimacy.This article examines the circumstances surrounding the recentUN Security Council dispute in order to illuminate the meritsof multilateral cooperation. It also asks, more fundamentally,whether multilateralism can be sustained in a unipolar world.     

Paving the Way for Possible Balkan Regional Cooperation

The idea of a “Concert of Democracies” acting as a sort of new international “directorate” if the UN Security Council is stalled has engendered great controversy lately in the international public debate. Some top-ranking political leaders, such as US presidential candidate John McCain, have endorsed a similar plan. Others have instead voiced the concern that the creation of such a new institution would lead to the dismantling of the UN system altogether and would engender more problems than it would solve. The article highlights the terms of the debate that is developing around this proposal, but also provides a historical and intellectual background to allow for a better understanding of its genesis, rationale and chances of success.     

In Search of a European Dimension in the UN Security Council

Both Belgium and Italy want to give their current mandate in the UN Security Council a European dimension. Yet, the conclusion that they are natural partners in doing so may be premature. Before focussing on Belgian and Italian objectives, the article presents the current state of the ongoing reform processes in Brussels and New York and of EU actorness in the Security Council more generally, as both are critical for estimating the prospects for a stronger European profile. It concludes by discussing the possibilities and constraints that the non-permanent members face within this framework.     

Does participation in international organizations increase cooperation?

Recent research asserts that public commitments to international institutions promote behavior that is consistent with institutional purposes. Evidence for this proposition is based almost entirely on studies that compare the behavior of states that have and have not ratified treaties. This paper evaluates instances in which some member states temporarily experience increased entanglement with an IO because they or their nationals serve in a position of authority. Unlike selection into IOs, selection into positions of authority is often governed by a common, observable, and partially exogenous process. I exploit exogenous exit, random assignment to different term lengths, and competitive elections in three contexts: the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), and the UN Security Council (UNSC). The evidence implicates that acquiring a position of authority can make states more willing to reject U.S. advances to sign non-surrender agreements, adopt domestic legislation that changes the penal code (ICC case), ratify legally binding treaties (UNHRC case), and contribute to peacekeeping missions (UNSC case). On the other hand, there is no evidence that UN institutions successfully select more cooperative states for positions of authority. Similar research designs can gainfully be employed to identify the causal effects of other forms of institutional participation.     

The humanitarian responsibilities of the United Nations Security Council: Ensuring the security of the people1

The United Nations Charter confers on the Security Council prime responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Yet these very concepts are undergoing radical change. More than the absence of war, peace has come to mean harmony both within and among nations. It has acquired a dimension far larger than the original State-centred notion of the Charter. Security connotes inclusion, cohesion, and integration - a sense of belonging to a society and a prevailing international order that is predicated on fairness and respect for differences and human dignity. Today, especially given the rise in conflicts of a non-international character, the Council musturgently review the appropriateness of existing instruments and traditional diplomacy. The author calls for better links between the UN, the Security Council, NGOs, and civil-society organisations; and proposes legal and practical mechanisms both to afford better protection to aid workers and to ensure that, when they are applied, sanctions regimes are effective means of placing pressure on those responsible for the abuse of power.