Committee: United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
Photograph by Mark Garten
The
Security Council observes a moment of silence in honor of Polish President
Lech Kaczynski, his wife, Maria, and the 94 others, including senior members of
Mr. Kaczynski's Government, who died on 10 April when their plane crashed in
the Russian city of Smolensk. 13 April 2010 United Nations, New York
The United Nations Security Council
functions to promote the maintenance of international peace and security. The
basic structure is outlined in chapter V of the original UN Charter. The first
session took place on January 17th, 1946 at Church House, London. (Background)
It is organized to function
continuously, with representatives from all its member states required to be
present at all times at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
(Background) In the late 1920’s and
1930’s the League of Nations (the predecessor organization to the United
Nations) was unable to act effectively in several crises because of a lack of
organization and structure. The Security Council is composed of five permanent
members (United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, and France) and 10
rotating non-permanent members (currently Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Columbia,
Gabon, Germany, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Portugal, and South Africa). (Members)
Each council member has one vote and decisions of procedural matters require at
least 9 out of 15 affirmatives, including all the permanent members. (Functions
and powers) The permanent members have the rule of “great power unanimity,” or
veto power, so that no action can be taken without the consent of all the great
powers. (Functions and powers) Votes on procedural matters require only a
simple majority and discussion is considered procedural; therefore, no state
can prevent discussion in the Security Council.
The Presidency of the Security
Council is held in turn by the members of the council in English alphabetical
order of their names, with each holding office for a month. (Functions and
powers) The position of President doesn’t carry much power; it is primarily
administrative. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations
to governments with no real enforcement power, Security Council resolutions
must be obligated by member states. (Background) The Council investigates any
dispute which might lead to international friction, recommends methods to
resolve disputes, determines the existence of a threat to the peace and what
action should be taken, calls on member to provide economic sanctions and other
non-violent actions to deter the aggressive actions, and finally can take
military action to halt violent aggressors. (Functions and powers)
An important function of the
Security Council is the ability to intervene militarily using peacekeeping
forces. Peacekeeping forces have been used sparingly over the last 60 years,
with an enormous increase over the last two decades. (Peacekeeping) The Security Council establishes a
peacekeeping operation by adopting a
Security Council resolution. The resolution sets out that mission’s
mandate and size. The Security Council monitors the work of UN
Peacekeeping operations on an ongoing basis, including periodic reports from
the Secretary-General and by holding Security Council sessions to discuss the
work of specific operations. (Peacekeeping) The
Security Council takes many factors into account when deciding where to put
peacekeepers, but ultimately a conflict must fit a certain criteria. First, the
Security Council examines if a ceasefire is in place, and if so, examines if
the ceasefire sustainable. Although it is possible for an intervention without
a ceasefire, it is unlikely to happen. As seen with the intervention in Bosnia,
intervening without a ceasefire can lead to major problems with the utility of
the operation. In essence, there is only so much peacekeeper’s can do to stop
violence. (Peacekeeping) However, it may be necessary to intervene even if
there is no sustainable ceasefire, such as in Rwanda. Many criticize the
Security Council for not intervening in Rwanda immediately, even when genocide
was imminent. But, the truth is the Security Council was going through its
procedural structure, and acted in line with its mandate. Additionally, there
needs to be a clear objective to the mission, with a sound strategy for
continued peace. The Security Council also takes into account the safety of
peacekeepers on the ground.
The Security Council covers other
areas of security related fields, in particular the combating of terrorism and
blood diamonds. Some recent resolutions that the Security Council has passed
include S/RES/1817 (2008) and S/RES/1459 (2003).
Resolution 1817 demonstrates the council’s concern about illicit drug
trafficking and money laundering in Afghanistan. It concludes that all such activity is
expressly counteractive to its efforts in combating terrorism in the country
and the region, and calls on member states to establish more stringent
narcotics regulations. Resolution 1459
reaffirms the Kimberly Process for certification of rough diamonds, which aims
to minimize the amount of diamonds being moved through illegal means. Diamonds
have been funding war and conflict in Africa for decades.
The Security Council represents the
only form of authority the United Nations has over member states. It is given
its power by the great powers (the permanent members) to quickly resolve
conflicts that can possibly result in ethnic violence and genocide. Many
criticize the Security Council for its structure of veto power by the permanent
members, who at times have acted in their interests as opposed to the general
well-being. An example can be seen again in Rwanda, as the French had a vested
interest in maintaining the ruling party. This can also be seen with the
conflict in Sudan, which has been stagnated by Chinese and Russian interests in
keeping the ruling party. Yet, despite some its problems, the Security Council
is clearly an important aspect to the United Nations, as it actually puts some
power of force behind the organization.
Works Cited
United Nations Security Council. “Background.” http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_background.html.
United Nations Security Council. “Functions and Powers." http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_functions.html.
United Nations Security Council. “Members." http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp
United Nations. “Role of the Security Council in
Peacekeeping.” http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/rolesc.shtml.