The Importance of the United Nations Security Council

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What is the importance of the UN Security Council?

“The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has primary responsibility, under the Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security” (UNSecurity Council 2010).

The end of the 1980s and the 1990s has been marked by major changes in international relations, both as practice and as an academic discipline. The collapse of the multi-polar system in the world politics, fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War and the beginning of some state level wars transformed the international peace affairs with the Security Council in the international cooperation to resolve conflicts. The debates on the United Nations Security Council become particularly vigorous after the cold war. Major concerns on the Security Council are over effectiveness and representation with demand for transparency in terms of its actions and decision (Basu, 2007; Taylor and Curtis, 2006; Luck, 2006).

This paper will attempt to look at various contributions of the United Nation Security Council from various scholars view in terms of its power and functions.

According to O’Byrne (2003:81) in his view, “the Security council is probably the most powerful of the UN’s organs and is responsible for peacekeeping, interventions, and sanctions against warring or rogue states”. Byrne further points that it is unreliable to consitently defend human rights standard and other rights related issues.

Similarly, Basu (2007: 63) enumerates the functions and powers of the Council as follows: (1) to maintain international peace and secuity in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations; (2) to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction; (3) to recomm...

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...10 Global Governance, Human Rights and Ctizenship. Class discussions

Maupas, S. ‘Case study: Yugoslav War Crime Tribunal’ in http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/yugoslav-warcrimes.html (accessed on 22 April, 2010)

O’Byrne, D. (2003) Human Rights: An Introduction Harlow: Pearson

Szaz, P. C. (2002) ‘UN Security Council Starts Legislating’ in American Journal of International Law. USA: American Society of Int Law Publication. Vol.96.4. Pg 901-905.

Taylor, P () the United Nations and International Order

Taylor, P and Curtis, D. (2006) ‘The United Nations’ in Baylis, J. Smith, S. and Owens, P. (ed) The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, New York: Oxford UniversityPress.pg 406-424 (first published in 2001).

SIPRI (2008) Yearbook: Armament, Disarmament and International Security. New York: Oxford Universty Press.

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