1. 21 March 2006
War, Peace and the United
Nations
Thomas Abraham

2.  The United Nations was created at the end of the
Second World War, replacing the League of
Nations
 US President Franklin D Roosevelt was a driving
force behind the creation of the United Nations
 The name “United Nations” was used by
Roosevelt to describe the alliance fighting the
Axis powers in World War 2

3. The four policemen
 World peace was to be maintained by what
Roosevelt described as the “four policemen”-the
US, UK, USSR and China, acting together to
prevent conflict
 These four policemen, along with France,
became the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council
 The USSR initially opposed China’s inclusion as
one of the “policemen”, but Roosevelt insisted.
Churchill was not happy about it either.

4. Three of the “policemen” at Yalta in
1945

5. Cairo 1943

6. The birth of the United Nations
 26 June 1945,
representatives of 50
countries sign the
charter of the United
Nations at a conference
in San Francisco
 UN officially comes into
existence on 24
October 1945

7. The preamble to the Charter
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
 to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to
mankind, and
 to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity
and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men
and women and of nations large and small, and
 to establish conditions under which justice and respect for
the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of
international law can be maintained, and
 to promote social progress and better standards of life in
larger freedom,

8. The UN Charter outlawed war
except in self defence
 All members were to settle their disputes peacefully
 Members were to refrain from the threat of force, or
the use of force against other member states
 The Security Council, not individual countries, was
to decide whether military force is to be used.
 Countries were supposed to keep a certain
proportion of their armed forces for use by the
United Nations

9. The structure of the UN
 Security Council:
responsible for peace, has
15 members
 General Assembly: main
deliberative forum of the UN
has 191 members
 The UN Secretariat headed
by the Secretary General
 International Court of
Justice based in The
Hague, Holland

10.  Economic and Social
Council- deals with
issues of economic
development
 Specialised agencies
such as the World
Health Organization,
International Atomic
Energy Agency,
International Labour
Organization

11. The Security Council
 The Security Council has five permanent
members: US, UK, France, Russia and China.
 10 other countries elected for two year terms
 Not all members are equal: permanent members
have the power of veto
 Charter gives the Security Council “primary
responsibility for international peace and security”

13. What does the Security
Council do to maintain peace?
 If the Security Council decides there is a threat to
international peace it normally begins by calling for
negotiations to resolve the problem
 The UN Secretary General or his representative
talks to the countries involved and urges them to
settle the problem

14. If that does not work
 Can impose diplomatic and economic
sanctions
 Air and sea blockades
 If there is still no progress the Security
Council can authorize military action

15. What did the United Nations do when
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990?
 On August 2, the day of the invasion, the
Security Council passes the following
resolution calling for Iraq to withdraw
unconditionally from Kuwait

16. 21 April 2006
Resolution 660 (1990)
2 August 1990
The Security Council,
Alarmed by the invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 by
the military forces of Iraq
Determining that there exists a breach of international
peace and security as regards the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait
Acting under Articles 39 and 40 of the Charter of the
United Nations,
1. Condemns The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
2. Demands that Iraq withdraw immediately and
unconditionally all its forces to the positions in which
they were located on 1 August 1990
3. Calls upon Iraq and Kuwait to begin immediately
intensive negotiations for the resolution of their
differences and supports all efforts in this regard, and
especially those of the League of Arab states
4. Decides to meet again as necessary to consider
further steps to ensure compliance with the present
resolution

17.  When that did not work, the Security Council
passed another resolution four days later
imposing economic sanctions

18. Resolution 661 (1990)
Of 6 August 1990
3. Decides that all States shall prevent:
a) The import into their territories of all commodities
and products originating in Iraq or Kuwait exported from the
date of the present resolution;
b) Any activities by their nationals or in their territories which
would promote or are calculated to promote the export or
trans-shipment of any commodities or products from Iraq
or Kuwait ; and any dealings by their nationals or their flag
vessels or in their territories in any commodities or
products originating in Iraq or Kuwait and exported there
from from the date of the present resolution, including in
particular any transfer of funds to Iraq or Kuwait for the
purposes of such activities or dealings
c) The sale or supply by their nationals or from their territories
or from their flag vessels or any commodities or products,
including weapons or any other military equipment,
whether or not originating in their territories but not
including supplies intended strictly for medical purposes,
and in humanitarian circumstances, foodstuffs, to any
person or anybody in Iraq or Kuwait

19. Resolution 660 (contd)
4. Decides that all States shall not make available to the Government
of Iraq, or to any commercial, industrial or public utility undertaking in
Iraq or Kuwait, any funds or any other financial or economic resources
and shall prevent their nationals and any persons within their territories
from removing from their territories or otherwise making available to that
government or to any such undertaking any such funds or resources and
from remitting any other funds to persons or bodies within Iraq or Kuwait
except payments exclusively for strictly medical or humanitarian purposes,
and in humanitarian circumstances, foodstuffs.

20.  When Iraq still did not budge, the Security
Council on November 29 authorized the use
of military force if Iraq did not withdraw by
January 15 1991.

21. Resolution 687 (1990)
29 November 1990
The Security Council
Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter
1. Demands that Iraq comply fully with resolution 660 (1990) and
all subsequent decisions relevant resolutions and decides while
maintaining all its decisions to allow Iraq one final opportunity, as a
pause of goodwill to do so
2. Authorizes Member States co-operating with the Government of
Kuwait , unless Iraq on or before 15 January 1991 fully implements
as set forth in paragraph 1 above, the abovementioned resolutions,
to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution
660 (1990) and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore
international peace and security in the area:
3. Requests all States to provide appropriate support for the actions
undertaken in pursuance of paragraph 2 above
4.Requests the States concerned to keep the Security Council
regularly informed on the progress of actions undertaken
pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 3 above

22. The weakness of the UN system in
enforcing peace
 Veto power: the UN can only take
serious action when all the “policemen”
agree:
“Decisions of the Security Council shall be made by an
affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring
votes of the permanent members”
 When one or other great power has been
involved, the UN has been powerless- ie
Hungary in 1956 and Vietnam
 The exception was Korea in 1950.

23. UN peacekeeping operations
 At present, there are 40,000
UN peacekeepers serving
all over the world.
 13 UN peacekeeping
missions all over the world
 The first ever UN
peacekeeping mission
established in the Middle
East in 1948 is still
continuing

24.  The UN has no military force of its own, and is
dependent on other countries to provide military
forces
 The UN Charter requires countries to maintain a
certain part of their forces for the use of the UN. This
has never been done
 Instead of representing the world, the UN is often
pushed into becoming an instrument of its most
powerful members

25. The United Nations system was based on the
belief that the great powers who won the Second
World War would continue their war time alliance, and
continue to work together to maintain world peace.
That never happened.

26. Genocide in Rwanda:the UN’s greatest
failure
 During 100 days beginning on April 7 1994, at least
800,000 people, mainly Tutsis, were slaughtered by
Hutu militiamen in Rwanda
 At the time the United Nations had 2,000
peacekeepers, led by Canadian General Romeo
Dallaire. Dallaire warned UN headquarters that a
massacre was being planned. His warnings were
ignored
 When the massacre began, the UN Security council
members decided to reduce the force to 270.

27.  France and Belgium sent in aircraft and troops, but
only to evacuate their own nationals.
 The United States did not want to get involved, and
was reluctant to describe the killings as genocide.
Instead, they were described as “acts of genocide”
 This was actually the biggest genocide since the
end of the second world war
 Why did the world do nothing?

28.  After the killing of 18 US soldiers in Somalia, no
western government wanted to get involved in
another African conflict
 Rwanda is of little strategic importance to the west
 Can a similar genocide happen again? Probably.
Likely places are in southern Sudan and the Congo.
 Will the world do anything about it?

29. Another blow to the UN’s authority
 The United States and Britain violated the UN
charter by going to war in Iraq
 The UN and the rest of the world could do
nothing
 But once Iraq was occupied, the US went
back to the UN for help in reconstructing Iraq,
conducting elections and so on.

30. Points to remember
 The United Nations can only do what its members, particularly its
most powerful members allow it it do.
 When the UN is unable to act, it is usually because one or two of
its powerful members do not want it to do so.
 The UN is not perfect, but it is the only institution we have where
countries can solve problems together.

31. The U.N’s strengths:
 Picking up the pieces after a war ends and
rebuilding societies
-Cambodia
-Iraq?
-Afghanistan?

32. Social, economic, environmental issues
 Some of the Millennium development goals:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty: By 2015, reduce by half the
number of people whose income is less that $1 a day
2. By 2015, ensure that all children complete primary schooling
3. Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe
drinking water and sanitation
4. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies provide access
to affordable drugs in developing countries

33. Other areas the UN is active in
 Health, refugees, human rights,
environmental issues, sustainable
development, promoting economic
development-all these issues require
international cooperation. The UN is the only
forum for such cooperation