UN Security Council Research Articles

Women, peace, and security: an assessment of UN security council resolution 1325 implementation policies in different peacebuilding contexts

Women, peace, and security: an assessment of UN security council resolution 1325 implementation policies in different peacebuilding contexts

Under the shadow of legality: A shadow hauntology on the legal construction of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Abstract Considered a landmark in feminist international politics, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda of the UN Security Council has been the object of many feminist explorations. Feminist legal scholars, however, have grappled with the ‘shadowy’ legality of the agenda, mostly analysing it as an ‘unsuccessful’ legal project: a partial or in progress legal norm, a defective legal form that attests (and furthers) the exile of inclusion of feminists in international law, or yet a formalistic discussion with lesser impact for feminist activists on the ground. Drawing from Avery Gordon’s considerations on taking shadows seriously in our production of knowledge, I propose, however, that reckoning with the shadows of the WPS’s legality enables a more comprehensive analysis of how the agenda has been a successful legal project in its own way. Offering a ‘shadow hauntology’ for the legal status of the WPS, I zoom in on the competing legality perceptions shared by relevant actors, the (gendered and colonially-continuous) shadows that have haunted those perceptions into formation, and how these competing visions have shaped the legality of the WPS as a shadow of its own. This study then offers an alternative way of studying legality both to feminist legal scholarship and studies on international legal sources more broadly. More concretely, it embraces the irresolvability of the legal status of a norm to take stock of the different legal projects and legality perceptions advanced by feminist actors and gender experts, in an effort to understand, in their own terms, the successes achieved.

Exploring the Viability and Implications of a NATO-like Defense Cooperation Among Turkic States

This paper explores the viability of a NATO-like defense cooperation among the Turkic states. While several challenges such as divergent security perceptions, differing foreign policy orientations, and the institutions’ limited capacities must be overcome, there are also several catalysts that could provide impetus for new security cooperation arrangements. Türkiye’s military capabilities as the only member of NATO in the region is particularly important. Furthermore, an ongoing imbalance in Armenia’s favor, supports the establishment of a security cooperation framework among the Turkic states. The developments in Ukraine and Crimea point to the necessity of a collective defense arrangement amid an increasingly insecure environment for the Turkic states. While initially beneficial, the OSCE has gradually and mostly lost its credibility in the southern Caucasus. The unequal implementation of its own principles and tactics employed in conflict resolution have inevitably led to a loss of trust from the parties involved. Meanwhile, it has ceased to analyze arms control developments in the region, despite UN Security Council Resolutions recognizing their regional dimension. Furthermore, the inadequate response to Armenia’s non-compliance with the above resolution damaged the OSCE’s credibility. Today, the Turkic states are left with few operational security cooperation options. The UN is far too inefficient and does not even have the legal framework to resolve any post-Soviet disputes. The CIS, which exists in the Caucasus in both political and military forms, lacks regional capacity and legitimacy. The GUAM organization created in 1997 at the instigation of the US and the West to pacify the edges of “the Russian World,” has been rendered operationally void. Overall, this paper explores cooperation strategies, assesses key institutional and political challenges, and discusses implications and future developments exploring the viability of a NATO-like defense cooperation among the Turkic states.

A new politics of international criminal justice: accountability in Ukraine and the Israel–Gaza war

Abstract Protecting civilian populations affected by violent conflict and mass atrocities is a challenge in global politics, particularly in view of the persistence of contestation over the application of the Responsibility to Protect principle and geopolitical gridlock in the UN Security Council. Over the past decade, there has been a pronounced rise in international accountability mechanisms to fill protection gaps in the multilateral system. Increasingly, international accountability mechanisms have been activated in the early phases of conflict situations to counter atrocities, promoting protection in ‘real time’. This article proposes that the deepening association between accountability and protection is best understood as an emergent human protection transnational legal order (HPTLO), a mode of decentralized governance that was driven by diverse agency across borders and aimed at solving problems of a global reach through legal ordering. The article provides an account of the formation and character of the HPTLO, demonstrates how it is operating in the context of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and identifies key risks and opportunities that these developments present to the global governance of human protection.

‘I felt’: Intimate geographies of sentient diplomacy

This paper explores feelings in diplomatic intimacies in the United Nations in New York. Drawing upon arguments in philosophy on emotional experience and supported by oral testimonies of diplomats, it supplements and complements the rich body of work on practices in diplomacy by exploring how feelings can reach out and be directed towards things in the world beyond the bounds of the body and this is part of the phenomenology of everyday diplomatic lives. I set out three key interconnected goals in order to personify state diplomacy: First, I show how feelings are bound up with cognition and perception and are not the mere effects of these. Secondly, I link feelings with the affective context of the United Nations Security Council in order to expose everyday existential experiences of individual diplomats. Thirdly, I reveal the perceived importance of eliciting events in this geopolitical setting, and the personal meaning of these to diplomats as expressed through their own feelings as state representatives. This is a unique approach to understanding diplomacy in political geography, and also the first of its kind in the study of the intimate geopolitics of the UN.

Bringing Realism to the Idealism of Small States: Norway and Atrocity Prevention at the UN Security Council

ABSTRACT This article examines Norway’s approach to the responsibility to protect (R2P) norm and atrocity prevention during its term on the UN Security Council (2021–22). Because it is a small state with high ambitions for its international human rights and humanitarian profile, one might expect Norway to be a strong defender of the R2P norm, in line with the idea that small states are often norm entrepreneurs. However, this article argues that prioritizing R2P and atrocity prevention norms in the Security Council may conflict with other Norwegian foreign policy interests such as peace diplomacy and consensus building. Indeed, in its approach to its Security Council seat, Norway prioritised agendas that fit a neutral, diplomatic approach to conflict prevention and civilian protection. Taking a pragmatic approach to problem solving in the Council was a strategy that served Norwegian interests. In a time when extremely tense global relations hamper the Security Council’s work, small states may not find it in their interest to take strong and outspoken positions on the gravest human rights abuses. Advocates of the R2P norm should look to other institutions to secure international involvement in atrocity prevention and promote R2P.

‘What we give up to get where we’re going’: compromise in the institutionalizing of youth peace advocacy

ABSTRACT In 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS), formalizing an agenda for positive youth participation in peace and security. However, youth peace activists have been leading peacebuilding long before this institutional recognition. This article explores the dynamics of how advocates and institutional actors conceptualize and negotiate compromise. To do this, it draws on in-depth interviews with youth and adult YPS advocates, a critical analysis of documents related to the agenda, and extended participant observation. It explores and develops a notion of a field of youth-oriented peacebuilding, drawing on Bourdieu. This makes visible a more complex field of struggle, showing how compromise can help explain how youth actively negotiate their participation in formalized agendas and persist in their own peacebuilding ambitions. It argues for a more nuanced understanding of compromise to understand the affordances and limitations of youth agency and institutional agendas.

An analysis of humanitarian and health aid harmonisation over a decade (2011–2019) of the Syrian conflict

IntroductionAid harmonisation is a key component of donor efforts to make aid more effective by improving coordination and simplifying and sharing information to avoid duplication. This study evaluates the harmonisation...

Impunity for International Law Violations in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Implications for Global Stability

The protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine, initiated in 2014 and intensified by Russia's comprehensive military incursion in 2022, has elicited profound apprehensions regarding breaches of international legal standards. This article analyzes the ramifications of the conflict on global legal structures, with particular emphasis on violations of the United Nations Charter, the Rome Statute, and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The examination underscores that the actions undertaken by Russia in Ukraine contravene essential tenets of international law, notably the ban on the use of force against the sovereignty of states and the imperative to safeguard civilians amidst armed conflict. The article contends that the military actions undertaken by Russia in its invasion constitute violations of the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity as outlined in the UN Charter, contravene the definitions of war crimes and aggression established by the Rome Statute, and fail to adhere to the mandates for civilian protection set forth by International Humanitarian Law. This article examines the complexities associated with prosecuting these violations, highlighting the constraints faced by international institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council. The analysis highlights the necessity of accountability in maintaining the integrity of international law and averting future transgressions, stressing the wider consequences for global stability and the rule of law.

“One Belt and One Road” vs. the Community of Human Destiny: Creating More Economic and Business Opportunities to the World

Since being proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the "One Belt and One Road (OBOR)" major initiative has been highly regarded by the international community, has responded positively to the relevant countries, and has become a Chinese national strategy. The vision and action documents for constructing "One Belt and One Road" have been formulated and written into relevant resolutions and documents of the UN Security Council. The "One Belt and One Road" initiative has actively responded to and participated worldwide in recent years. Noteworthy progress has been made in transforming the concept of "One Belt and One Road" from the vision to the real action. Compared with several significant plans in the history of world economic development, pushing forward the construction of "One Belt and One Road" has its characteristics and uniqueness. The goal of promoting the "One Belt and One Road" construction is to open wider to the outside world through promoting and further deepening reform, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win cooperation with other developed and developing countries, and to build a community of human destiny.

The war in Ukraine in light of international law

AbstractThe aggression and the ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine by the Russian Federation have, since their outset, implied not only the violation of fundamental customary and treaty norms of international law, but, at the same time also undermine the foundations of the contemporary international legal order. The ‘special military operation’ violates several universal international conventions in the elaboration of which the predecessor state of contemporary Russia, the Soviet Union had a definitive role; furthermore, it expressly breaches Russian undertakings concerning respect for the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. Since in this case the aggressor state is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, thus, instead of the Council, the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly proceeds on the basis of the Uniting for Peace resolution and makes recommendations for collective measures to the Member States. The present study discusses the most important international norms breached with the aggression and during the war, the resolutions of the emergency special sessions of the UN General Assembly, the post-war situation, as well as the issue of remedy and reparation due to Ukraine.

No dog in this fight: Interrogating Ethiopia’s calculated neutrality towards the Russia-Ukraine war

ABSTRACT Ethiopia has officially adopted a neutral position in the Russia-Ukraine war in line with the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Despite the centrality of sovereignty and territorial integrity in Ethiopia’s foreign policy, the government has avoided publicly castigating Russia for its assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty. This stance constitutes a sovereignty paradox when viewed in light of Ethiopia’s demonstrated commitment to its own sovereignty which has seen it fight three wars against Italy, Somalia and Eritrea, and the country’s advocacy to institutionalize sovereignty norms at the global level. This contribution argues that Addis Ababa’s reliance on Moscow’s arms supplies and its diplomatic cover in the United Nations Security Council in the context of the Tigrayan conflict compromised its ability to defend the principle of sovereignty.

Uncivilian Power Germany: Why States Violate their Foreign Policy Master Roles

ABSTRACT This paper explores the reasons why states occasionally do not adhere to the behavioural expectations as prescribed by their foreign policy master roles. To that end, it proposes four potential drivers for such ‘role violations’, namely: exogenous pressure, political survival, lack of issue salience and ensuing bureaucratic decision-making, and unclear role demands in ambiguous decision contexts. Empirically, the paper examines the plausibility of those drivers for the case of Germany’s abstention in the United Nations Security Council vote on resolution 1973 on Libya. It suggests that in that particular case considerations of political survival made civilian power Germany act out of character.

Sino-Africa Relations Post-Covid-19: Issues for Consideration

Sino-Africa relations have been periodised into three phases. The first phase (1950s–1970s) includes the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and the decolonisation of African states. The second phase (1971–1990s) includes the drift of Sino-Soviet relations, the admission of China into the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), as well as the end of the Cold War. The third phase (2000s–2020) covers the inclusion of China into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, as well as the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2010. This article considers the fourth phase of Sino-Africa relations, argued to have begun in 2020 post-Covid-19, taking place at a time of de-globalisation, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the US-China trade war. We assert that the latter changing global dynamics must be considered in making sense of Sino-Africa relations today. The article argues that despite such a changing global political order, there have been continuities and changes in China’s relations with the African continent. This is evident in the tightening of its relations with Africa, irrespective of ongoing dynamics in global affairs. Despite concerns about the USA’s reprioritisation of Africa, the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), vaccine diplomacy, and China and African States’ “neutrality” stance on various ongoing conflicts, it is safe to say that Sino-Africa relations will triumph even in this new phase.

Peran Dewan Keamanan PBB dalam Penyelesaian Sengketa Internasional: Studi Kasus Konflik Timur Tengah

The Middle East conflict is one of the longest and most complex conflicts in modern history, involving multiple countries and causing significant regional instability. This journal aims to analyze the role of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in resolving international disputes, with a special focus on conflicts in the Middle East. Using qualitative methods with a case study approach, this research examines various UNSC interventions through secondary data analysis from research reports, journal articles, books and other reliable sources. The research results show that the UNSC has broad powers and authority to resolve conflicts, including issuing resolutions, implementing sanctions, sending peacekeeping troops, and taking military action if necessary. However, the UNSC faces various obstacles such as the use of veto rights by permanent members, conflicting national interests, limited resources, and inconsistent compliance by member countries. In conclusion, although the UNSC plays a crucial role in maintaining international peace and security, its effectiveness in resolving conflicts is highly dependent on the cooperation and commitment of all UN member states.

UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on Non-Proliferation: 20 Years Later

UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on Non-Proliferation: 20 Years Later

DOKTRIN “RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT” DALAM PENANGANAN KEJAHATAN TERHADAP KEMANUSIAAN DI REPUBLIK SUDAN TAHUN 2023

Differing views on sovereignty and intervention gave birth to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle which emphasizes the responsibility of states to protect their people from war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. The armed conflict in Sudan showed violations of the R2P principle that caused thousands of casualties and sexual violence. The problem of this article is the status of the R2P principle in international law and whether the UN Security Council resolution implementing R2P can be a precedent for applying the R2P principle in Sudan. This article is normative juridical research, descriptive-analytical in nature, using secondary data, qualitative data processing, and deductive conclusions are drawn. The results show that the position of the R2P principle is internationally recognized in various UN documents and resolutions and the UN Security Council has not applied the R2P principle in the case of Sudan.

Coalition Army humanitarian assistance for the refugees from South Kurdistan on the Turkish border in 1991.

This study illustrates the amount and significant types of humanitarian assistance, which provided by the coalition forces to the displaced people from South Kurdistan on the Turkish-Iraqi border in 1991. The coalition forces arrived directly to help displaced people because they were around in the area. However, they provided the most necessary emergency supplies because they were capable to deliver hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid and basic necessities of life. Since they had the necessary equipment to carry out emergency supplies to distribute to displaced people in the Turkish-Iraqi border, especially dropping such emergency supplies by plane. The confirmation and adopted of Resolution 688 by the United Nations Security Council led to receive influx of humanitarian aid to the displaced people. The Western countries with the help of US, after confirmed the Resolution 688, played a major role in the making of no-fly zones above latitude (36) in the north ,and the making a peace zone (Safe haven,)in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. Therefore, the coalition forces could easily deliver this humanitarian aid assistance to people in need and protect them from the repression of the Iraqi government. Later, the coalition forces built several (temporary) settlement camps near the city of Zakho in order to return the displaced people to the peace zone area. They provided humanitarian needs such as food, water and health for the displaced people in the center of these camps. Moreover, they rebuilt many service facilities along the ceasefire zone, saving thousands of lives and returning refugees to their homes.

A Natural Jewel Threatened by Maritime Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea, an area rich in natural beauty and natural resources such as oil, gas, and fisheries, faces serious threats from widespread maritime piracy activities. The region is an important economic center, but maritime insecurity threatens its economic stability and development. Numerous regional and international initiatives have been undertaken to enhance security in these waterways, such as the Nigerian government's "Deep Blue" project and collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The UN Security Council has also passed a resolution to address this threat. Despite this, challenges remain significant due to the high number of attacks and significant economic impact. Addressing this issue requires continued cooperation between countries in the Gulf of Guinea region and the international community to ensure security and sustainable exploration in this region​.

Toward a Push-Pull Model of Leader Sensegiving During Crisis: A Content Analysis of United Nations Security Council Communications

Leader sensegiving during crisis situations has received limited empirical research attention in the management and organization literature, despite the important role it plays in addressing organizational crises. This study examines how the tone of leader sense-giving messages changes as crises unfold, so as to provide a point of departure for future research assessing the efficacy of sense-giving efforts amid crises. Toward this end, I develop a conceptual push-pull model of leader sensegiving in crisis, then test key relationships between crisis conditions, sensegiving activity, and leader message tone. Analysis of a sample of United Nations Security Council presidential statements suggests that increased leader sensegiving activity is associated with worsening crisis conditions and that leader messages tend to adopt a linguistic tone that is visceral and steeped in language that references forceful action when the intensity of crisis conditions is high. Furthermore, leader messages addressing deteriorating crises are associated with relatively high levels of exclusionary, aggressive language but low levels of collectiveness and praise. Directions for future leader sense-giving in crisis research are also discussed.