The United Nations and international peace and security: a legal and practical analysis

Aminzadeh, Elham (1997) The United Nations and international peace and security: a legal and practical analysis. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The United Nations, as an organisation created by equal sovereign states and built upon a single set of principles as the UN Charter, has the capacity and responsibility to deal with matters in the sphere of international peace and security. The Cold War put an obstacle in the way of the Organisation to use its delegated powers in conflict resolution within the few years of its establishment. As a result, and because of the necessity to deal with international conflicts, the institution of peace-keeping emerged with the aim of deploying forces not to end the aggression, breach of or threat to the peace, but for supervision of cease-fires or providing an interposition force between the belligerents, characterised by impartiality and a limited military capability.

The demise of the Cold War offered the opportunity to the Organisation, especially to the Security Council, to use its powers to implement law and order among nations. In the post-Cold War era, the Security Council extended its interpretation of the notion of "threat to the peace" and restricted the principle of "domestic jurisdiction". The Council has authorised an individual state or a group of states to use force for humanitarian purposes and human rights concerns.

To study the role of the United Nations in the field of international peace and security, and to investigate its developments, legality of actions, successes and failures, it is necessary to gain a clear understanding of what was originally intended by the founders of the Organisation. This thesis examines initially the provisions of the Charter on the role of the UN organs in maintaining and restoring international peace and security with reference to the discussions at the San Francisco Conference. Since the institution of peace-keeping was not envisaged in the Charter, an investigation is carried out on its constitutional and legal basis, referring to the advisory opinion of the international Court of Justice and Chapters VI and VII of the Charter.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: K Law > K Law (General); J Political Science > JZ International relations
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Supervisor's Name: Grant, Professor John P.
• Date of Award: 1997
• Depositing User: Miss Fiona Riggans
• Unique ID: glathesis:1997-734
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 24 Apr 2009
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 13:25
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/734