Security Council Permanent Members Research Articles

China’s Approach to Human Security within and outside UN Peacekeeping: Drawing Lessons from South Sudan

Abstract China’s relationship with human security has been ambiguous. It has acted as the most visible objector of the concept, while simultaneously contributing the most troops of all UN Security Council permanent members to UN protection of civilians (poc) peacekeeping missions. To analyse this ambiguity, we develop a typology of activities used by external actors to address human security concerns: mediation, physical protection including the use of force, and capacity building. The typology draws on the three constituent responsibilities in Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and closely aligns with the three tiers of the UN peacekeeping poc policy. We apply our typology on China’s engagement with the South Sudan civil war. We posit two interlinked arguments. First, we argue that China pursues a dual-track approach to human security, within and outside multilateral deployments, and these need to be read simultaneously to appreciate its understanding of the concept. Second, we argue for a refocus on all three types of activities. While most research has focused on the Chinese approach to the use of force, we show that the two other types of activities—mediation and capacity building —present highly productive sites of contestation. Given the current global fragmentation, where any authorisation of the use of force in the unsc and robust peacekeeping deployments are increasingly improbable, understanding Chinese understandings of human security within mediation and capacity building is of paramount importance.

Role of foreign banks in promoting financial inclusion: “A time series analysis of five permanent members of UN security council”

PurposeFinancial Inclusion is an important determinant of bringing inclusive growth which is promoted by the foreign bank entry as it increases the market competition and brings about greater outreach. Foreign Bank Entry has been considered an impediment towards domestic markets which is misunderstood. Foreign Banks not only bring higher assets but also provide credit to government-owned enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Micro Credit. Most of the developed countries have understood this phenomenon and have achieved significant financial inclusion by liberalizing their banking industry. It is essential to conceptualize and measure the magnitude of factors, determinants, and antecedents for foreign bank entry promoting financial inclusion. MethodologyAn empirical research methodology has been adopted using the Normality test, data diagnostics for Regression, Unit Root Test, Bounds Co-Integration Test, Long Run Coefficients, and ARDL to explore the determinants of the entrance of foreign banks to promote financial inclusion. Data has been taken from 5 developed countries, United Nations Security Council's permanent members with Veto Powers including (United Kingdom, United States, Russian Federation, France, and China) for 15 years from 2004–2018, making it a sample size of 75 (n = 75) for each of the eight variables under study. FindingsThe results confirm that the foreign bank entry has a significant effect at the level and 1st order difference on the financial inclusion. OriginalityThis study is the original work of the authors and is not the exact replication of any prior study; this study provides empirical evidence and discusses the literature on Financial Inclusion and Foreign Bank Entry.

Hambatan PBB dalam Merespon Mass Atrocity di Suriah pada Tahun 2011-2013

The Syrian conflict is one of the deadliest conflicts that occurred as a result of the Arab Spring. A large number of casualties in this conflict shows how sovereign state and international community had failed to fulfill their responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocities. The purpose of this article is to examine what obstacles the United Nations had faced in its effort to protect the Syrian population. The framework that used to analyze this issue is the concept of Global Governance and the Responsibility to Protect. Using descriptive qualitative research methods, data will be collected from books, journal articles, official reports and media publications to explain four obstacles United Nations had faced. The first obstacle related to growing multipolarity that causes difficulty in reaching a consensus during the negotiations. The second obstacle related to UN Security Council permanent member dysfunctional behavior which often causes a deadlock in decision making. The third obstacle is the complexity of the conflict that occurred. The last one is the differences opinion among related organizations that relieves the international pressure to immediately end the mass atrocities.

Role of Foreign Banks Entry in Promoting Financial Inclusion - "A Time series analysis of Five Permanent Members of UN Security Council"

Purpose: Financial Inclusion is an essential determinant of bringing inclusive growth, which is promoted by the foreign bank entry as it increases the market competition and brings about greater outreach. Foreign Bank Entry has been considered as an impediment towards domestic markets, which is misunderstood. Foreign banks bring higher assets and provide credit to government-owned enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Micro Credit. Most developed countries have understood this phenomenon and have achieved significant financial Inclusion by liberalizing their banking industry. It is essential to conceptualize and measure the magnitude of factors, determinants, and antecedents for foreign bank entry promoting financial Inclusion. Methodology: An empirical research methodology has been adopted using the Normality test, data diagnostics for Regression, Unit Root Test, Bounds Co-Integration Test, Long Run Coefficients, and ARDL to explore the determinants of the entrance of foreign banks to promote financial Inclusion. Data has been taken from 5 developed countries, United Nations Security Council's permanent members with Veto Powers including (United Kingdom, United States, Russian Federation, France, and China) for 15 years from 2005-2018, making it sample 75 (n=75) for each of the eight variables under study. Findings: The results confirm that all the variables significantly affect the level or first-order difference in the financial Inclusion caused by foreign bank entry. Originality: This study is the author's original work and is not the exact replication of any prior study; this study provides empirical evidence and discusses the literature on Financial Inclusion and Foreign Bank Entry.

The Responsibility Not to Veto Revisited under the Theory of ‘Consequential Jus Cogens’

In this article, I argue that contemporary international law imposes an obligation upon the UN Security Council permanent members to refrain from using their veto repeatedly in ways that impede the Council from acting against violations of peremptory norms. This obligation not to veto emanates from the duty to cooperate to end violations of peremptory norms as enshrined in Article 41(1) of the International Law Commission Articles on State Responsibility. For this purpose, I demonstrate that the duty to cooperate itself possesses a peremptory character under the theory of ‘consequential jus cogens’, whereby effects of jus cogens norms are themselves peremptory. In doing so, this article contributes to the ongoing debates concerning the legal nature of the effects of jus cogens norms by showing that the theory of ‘consequential jus cogens’ is an application of the generally accepted maxim accessorium sequitur principale and thus forms part of positive international law.

India’s policy towards South Pacific: Expanding horizons of the Indo-Pacific region

ABSTRACTFor India, the concept of Indo-Pacific spans from the East Coast of Africa to the Western Pacific. This is because for India, it is the outer limit of the Indo-Pacific, and South Pacific acts as the new periphery of its Act East policy. Many ASEAN nations are deliberating about the utility of the Indo-Pacific. In the past, the then Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalagewa had proposed the Indo-Pacific treaty and in 2019, ASEAN discussed the new geo-strategic construct despite variations in the approach and subscription. For India, South Pacific has three major objectives catering to its Act East policy; its need for supporting votes for its Security Council permanent member seat, Indian diaspora in the region, and harnessing sea bed mineral resources with island nations under the blue economy concept. However, whether India does have the desire or is just scouting for resources and therefore wants to protect its strategic interest across the Indo-Pacific region needs further scrutiny. India's approach with regard to Indian Ocean has been appreciated but now it is using Act East policy to encapsulate South Pacific region through its Oceania approach. The paper discusses strategic and functional aspects of India's approach.

The Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping

AbstractUN peacekeeping was not designed to wield force, and the UN's permanent five (P-5), veto-wielding Security Council members do not want the UN to develop a military capacity. However, since 1999, the UN Security Council has authorized all UN multidimensional peacekeeping operations under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to use force. The mandates do not serve to achieve the council's stated goal of maintaining international peace, nevertheless, the council repeats these mandates in every multidimensional peacekeeping resolution. Neither constructivist accounts of normative change, nor the rational pursuit of stated goals, nor organizational processes can explain the repetition of force mandates. Instead, we draw on insights from small-group psychology to advance a novel theoretical proposition: the repetition of force mandates is the result of “group-preserving” dynamics. The P-5 members strive to maintain their individual and collective status and legitimacy by issuing decisions on the use of force. Once members achieve a decision, the agreement is applied in future rounds of negotiations, even when the solution does not fit the new context and may appear suboptimal, illogical, or even pathological. Privileging the achievement and reproduction of agreement over its content is the essence of group preserving. We present an original data set of all peacekeeping mandates, alongside evidence from dozens of interviews with peacekeeping officials, including representatives of all of the Security Council's permanent members. We assess this original data using expected causal process observations derived from rationalist, constructivist, organizational, and psychological logics.

In the Shadow of Great Power Politics: Why Nehru Supported PRC's Admission to the Security Council

ABSTRACTIn early 1950s, India's Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru turned down suggestions that India become a Security Council Permanent Member. As per suggestions, India would either take China's seat occupied by Republic of China (RoC) or become the sixth member alongside RoC. Nehru turned down these overtures arguing that People's Republic of China (PRC) should occupy China's seat at the Security Council. This study ascertains why India turned down apparently good offers and instead championed PRC's cause at a time when there existed marked political differences between them. While some have analyzed India's stand strictly in bilateral terms, this study casts the net wider. By closely examining Nehru's writings and correspondences, it argues that Nehru's support was based on his understanding of PRC and its position as a great power in international relations. Early twentieth-century developments had taught him that great powers that were ostracized became a source of instability. In an era that saw the unveiling of nuclear bombs, the cost of a dissatisfied PRC would be tragic. To stabilize the system, it was necessary to accommodate PRC within the Security Council and provide it with the veto. This would assuage PRC and check its revisionist tendencies.

Responsibility to recommend: the role of the UN General Assembly in the maintenance of international peace and security

The international community's failure to respond to the large-scale commission of international crimes points to an abiding flaw in the United Nations (UN) system, namely the inability or unwillingness of the Security Council's permanent members to act in response to such atrocities. This article focuses on the problematic confluence of international governance and humanitarian response. Specifically, it analyses two major efforts to address these issues and their possible interaction. First, the ‘Uniting for Peace’ Resolution (U4P), which provides that where the Security Council is unable to act due to a veto, the General Assembly can make recommendations for collective measures, including the use of force, in a situation of a breach of international peace and security or aggression. Second, the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P), encompassing the notion that if a state is manifestly failing to protect its citizens, the international community may, where necessary, take forceful action to protect those affected. This article argues that the UN embodies a system of collective security and that when the necessity of intervention to halt atrocities is defeated by a Security Council veto resulting in a governance vacuum, the U4P Resolution affords the Assembly a mechanism to recommend measures under the third pillar of R2P. Although R2P has arguably been fundamentally damaged by events in Libya, and more recently Syria, the utilisation of the U4P resolution could serve to fill the lacuna caused by Security Council deadlock and potentially reinforce and legitimise the R2P concept.

Comment on Larry Johnson, “Uniting for Peace”

Larry Johnson’s essay on the UN General Assembly’s Uniting for Peace resolution (UFP) is a useful general analysis of issues arising from UN Security Council Permanent Member veto-paralysis. His essay, which focuses on the text of the original Resolution, is directed at asking whether the UFP retains a current “useful purpose.” Relying on a text-centric interpretation of the presence or absence of subsequent invocations of the UFP, he concludes that no “useful purpose” remains, in part because evolved General Assembly authority has displaced the need to specifically invoke the UFP to make recommendations on certain issues of international peace and security. Johnson then asks whether, under the original UFP or subsequently, the Assembly may recommend to Member States “enforcement” uses of force, notwithstanding the prohibitions of Article 2(4) of the Charter. He finds Article 2(4) to be an absolute barrier to Assembly authority to recommend those measures, but not for “innovative and inventive non-use-of force measures.”

From Strategic Adjustment to Normative Learning? Understanding China’s Peacekeeping Efforts in Africa

Over the last two decades, Chinese armed forces have been increasingly exposed to the global norms of UN peacekeeping, not least through expanded participation in international peacekeeping operations. As the largest Security Council permanent member troop contributor, more than four fifths of Chinese troops in UN peacekeeping operations are deployed in Africa. As such, China is increasingly in a position to strengthen peacekeeping operations, contribute to stability, security, and security sector reform in Africa, and expand its regional multilateral military cooperation, all of which raises the prospects for China to become more integrated in the international community and a responsible, and responsive, major power. Given these important developments and their implications for the future of peacekeeping in Africa, this paper seeks to: identify the key determinants that undergird China’s evolving foreign policy approach toward peacekeeping principles and praxis in Africa; ascertain the degree and trace the process in which increasing interactions between China, the African Union, and the broader international community have led Chinese policy elites to consider greater flexibility in their views toward sovereignty and the changing nature of peacekeeping; assess how a rising China may exert its influence through its expanding role in peacekeeping; and analyze the strategic implications of these security developments for Africa.

Addressing the Perils of Peace Operations: Toward a Global Peacekeeping System

OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, WE HAVE SEEN CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS made in international conflict management, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. The end of the Cold War has led to the obsolescence of between major powers, and globalization has increased the interconnectedness and interdependence among people, societies, and countries. However, the longevity and large-scale nature of armed conflicts in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Chad, and Sudan with enormous humanitarian consequences are solemn reminders that international institutions and peacekeeping actions are still unable to meet global challenges with global responses. rethinking of the role of peacekeeping as an instrument of global crisis response could help to strengthen global governance in peace and security. The call for a global system in peacekeeping has been voiced by the 2009 UN report A New Partnership Agenda (New Horizon Report). It argues that international peacekeeping a global system to match the global enterprise it has become. (1) In my view, for such a system to be effective, it needs to rely more so on the broadening partnerships of the UN with various regional organizations while increasing the interface between peacekeeping and peace-building at the same time. In view of the lack of strategic consensus by the Security Council permanent members, such a system cannot be created top down, but rather it needs to be built on peacekeeping practices, norms, and interdependent relations of states and institutions. This essay will briefly look at the important progress that peacekeeping has made over the past twenty years and then explore, in view of a continuous North-South divide and a resurging Westphalian bias, what such a global peacekeeping system could look like. Peacekeeping Evolution and Transformation Following the end of the Cold War, peacekeeping became a necessary and ubiquitous tool for conflict management. The demand for peacekeeping has increased significantly since the early 1990s and analysts credit international mediation, crisis management, and peacekeeping for the up to 80 percent decline in total armed conflicts. (2) Peacekeeping underwent important transformations, driven partly by mission failures, such as Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda in the mid-1990s, partly by policy prescriptions of the Brahimi Report that was crafted as a response to these failures. Also, the dark side of globalization transformed the nature of peacekeeping: it facilitated cross-border criminal violence that has fueled shadow economies with the presence of illicit arms and dangerous materials, valuable natural resources, and the trafficking of humans. These remnants of war pose a formidable challenge to peacekeeping as they are transnational, often linked to local stakeholders, and nonmilitary in nature. (3) Over the past twenty years, regional organizations have become real players in crisis management, including peacekeeping action. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have developed their own peacekeeping capabilities. recent report of the African Union-United Nations panel on modalities for support to AU peacekeeping operations (the Prodi Report) looks particularly at the emerging strategic relationship between the UN and the AU. (4) Most peace missions are today carried out as a partnership between two or more institutions. For instance, in 2007, forty of fifty-four peace missions involved some interinstitutional arrangement. (5) Moreover, the transformation of peacekeeping over the past decade has been characterized by an increasing emphasis on the civilian dimension. On the one hand, with civilians becoming deliberate targets or indirect victims of armed violence, the protection of civilians has become an integral, albeit not very effective part of peacekeeping missions. …

Still playing dice with lives: Darfur and security council resolution 1706

This article examines the recent Security Council Resolution 1706 authorising UN peacekeeping in Sudan, in the context of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Darfur. It assesses the African Union Mission in Sudan and elaborates on the reasons for its current fatigue and failure. It interrogates the proposed mandate of the UN force, the organising principles and rules of engagement and, sadly, the Realpolitik that continues to derail efforts at ending the genocide. It urges the global community, in particular the Security Council permanent members, to unite their efforts and compel the government of Sudan to accept UN deployment in order to save the dying and end the tragedy in Darfur.

China Makes “Great Leaps Outward” in Regional Diplomacy

China makes the headlines nowadays, and the world is fascinated by the rise of China. Beijing has long been one of the five UN security council permanent members and a prominent nuclear power. Twice in the past two years Chinese astronauts riding divine vessels have been sent into space, symbolizing the middle kingdom's ascending global status. After 25 years of rapid economic growth at nearly 10 percent annually, China ranks as the world's fourth largest economy, the third largest trading power, and the largest holder of foreign reserves. It is emerging as a world factory, a huge market for all goods and services, a military power, and a major leader in world affairs.1 Many see Beijing as the only potential rival to the global hegemony of the United States. At the same time, China is also a huge source of pollution and environment degradation, the second largest contributor to the earth's greenhouse effect, a land of increasing disparity and social unrest, and full of uncertainties about its own future.Thus the world asks: Will China be a responsible power? Will it rise peacefully as it daims, or will it go to war with others? How do we engage China? How will it behave in world affairs when it is as powerful as the United States in a few decades time? Or, as one of the sub-themes of this volume puts it in the regional context: How has China managed the sensitive issues of territorial unification and engaged its neighbours? How capable is China in leading the region while implementing a new form of governance at home? Although most of the world sees a prosperous China as a benefit to global commerce and well-being, others see the rising dragon as a menace.In the following pages, I will focus on China's regional diplomacy and examine the foreign policy preferences and performances of China's new leadership in the past three-four years. In the process, I will argue that first, China is joining the world, changing it, and being changed by its contacts with the outside, all at the same time; second, China's interaction with the world is based on an ongoing assessment of its own position in the international system through a complex mixture of different strategies; third, China's engagement with the world, its emerging global status, and its leadership potential all begin with its neighbouring countries, so a closer look at China's regional role is critical in understanding China's overall international behaviour; and finally, although it is difficult to make a certain correlation between China's domestic regional policies (in such places as Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and its foreign policy toward other countries, some linkages can be established between Bering's domestic and foreign policy concerns.NEW CHINESE LEADERSHIP TAKES CENTRAL STAGE IN ASIA PACIFIC DIPLOMACYChina's leadership change began over four years ago, and, as their predecessors did, President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, and other top leaders have maintained a very active agenda in foreign affairs with frequent visits to other countries, especially China's close neighbours. The new leaders are younger, much more energetic, and have so far pushed China's international position to a higher level.In southeast Asia, take President Hu and Premier Wen's 2003 visits to the region as an example. Wen first was in Bali, Indonesia in October for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) 10 plus one (China) and ASEAN 10 plus three (China, Japan, and South Korea) meetings. In his 44-hour visit, Wen attended 20 meetings, put forward 29 collaborative proposals, and signed a range of diplomatic documents.2 The result was some unprecedented achievements for China's relations with ASEAN:* Beijing became the first strategic partner of the regional group by signing the treaty of amity and cooperation in southeast Asia with ASEAN, denouncing the use efforce and calling for greater political consultation, economic cooperation, and peaceful coexistence. …

The New World Order and the General Assembly: Bloc Realignment at the UN in the Post-Cold War World

AbstractThe demise of the Cold War and greater cooperation among the Security Council's permanent members have created a situation frequently characterized as a New World Order at the United Nations. This study examines whether that characterization can also be applied to the politics of the UN General Assembly. Using descriptive analysis of roll-call votes, the authors find that recent sessions, and in particular the 46th session, witnessed the end of a fairly stable decade of voting blocs in the General Assembly. An indicator of vote changing is developed which documents the rapid movement of the former Warsaw Pact members and Baltic states towards more western European positions. Hierarchical cluster and multidimensional scaling analyses are employed to identify the emerging voting alliances. The results suggest that the accommodation has not been as widespread in the General Assembly and that our longstanding conceptualizations of east/west/north/south polarizations are in need of revision.