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The Failure of UN Diplomacy: The case of Iraq from the 1991 post – Gulf War to 2003

Master of Arts - International Relations / This research attempts to examine and explain the failure of UN diplomacy that was applied in Iraq from 1991 post-Gulf War to 2003. In order to achieve this, UN diplomatic instruments that included diplomatic negotiations, UN Resolutions, sanctions, and weapons inspections have been rigorously analysed within the context
of ascertaining their diplomatic effectiveness.

The report specifically focuses on the impact that was made by the diplomatic tools in an effort to peacefully disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. In addition, the report explores factors that undermined the use of the diplomatic instruments.

A number of factors have been responsible for the failure of the UN diplomacy in Iraq. They include, among others, a structural problem in form of an enforcement mechanism in the UN Security Council Resolutions; lack of complementarity in the use of the diplomatic instruments, and implemented at an earlier phase of the disarmament crisis; use of the UN by some of its key members to pursue their interests; flaws in the overall US/UN policy toward Iraq; deeply entrenched hostilities between Iraq and the West especially US and Britain; the approach within which sanctions were modelled discouraged key diplomatic dialogue and negotiation; and the nature of the UN of being an association of sovereign countries largely limited diplomatic efforts to resolve the disarmament crisis.

Thus, the report reveals factors ranging from the ineffectiveness of the UN diplomatic instruments to the flaws in the external influence- that is, the policy of the UN and
some of its key members to have failed the UN diplomacy in Iraq.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/238
Date13 March 2006
CreatorsKiiza, Charles J.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format25833 bytes, 513987 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf

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