This thesis investigates the role of the United Nations in the area of peace enforcement. It studies the UN system for the maintenance of international peace and security in the face of threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. It assesses the Security Council attempts to employ enforcement measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in response to inter-state and intra-state conflicts, paying attention to the effect of the Council's increasing involvement in internal situations, both on the development of the system and on the outcome of conflicts. It also takes account of changes in the nature of modern conflict and of the Security Council's innovative rebuttals; these amount to a transforming of peace enforcement and necessitate its reconceptualisation. The thesis examines challenges posed to the viability of peace enforcement by an increasing tendency to employ 'interventionist' methods such as 'humanitarian intervention' and the 'new internationalism'. In this respect, the thesis examines the assumption that these new methods do not substitute for the UN system of peace enforcement, which retain the universal approval of member states. It further assesses the argument that a reformed peace enforcement system will serve the cause of peace better than these controversial methods. The study of the Kuwait crisis as a central case in this thesis benefited from the release of authoritative accounts during the years 1995-99, by writers who had held official responsibilities during the crisis. The thesis also benefited from the study of peace enforcement cases that occurred after Kuwait in measuring claims raised after the Gulf war concerning the reactivation and viability of peace enforcement. These cases allowed the thesis to provide an account of peace enforcement during the first ten post-Cold War years, to contrast them to earlier cases, and to draw lessons for the future of the UN peace enforcement system.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:249262 |
Date | January 1999 |
Creators | Osman, Mohamed Awad |
Publisher | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
Source Sets | Ethos UK |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Source | http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2618/ |
Page generated in 0.0014 seconds