The United Nations in the International System: Effectiveness of Collective Security Introduction

The concept of collective security is used by countries to end or avert conflicts. The arrangement of collective security provides that an attack against one nation has a ripple down effect to the other country and they should act as a unit to deter the attacker[footnoteRef:1]. Once the Cold War ended, the primary issues of international security have undergone significant changes. Through the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, several conflicts in Africa, Asia, and Central America were resolved. Peacekeeping is one of the central means by which the United Nations fulfills its roles in maintaining security and peace internationally[footnoteRef:2]. The United Nations, as well as the League of Nations, was established on the collective security principle. This paper delves into how the collective security has evolved its role as the foundation for most global peace agreements and its effectiveness regarding peacekeeping. [1: Ramesh, Thakur, the United Nations, peace and security: from collective security to the responsibility to protect, Cambridge University Press, 2016:27.] [2: Peter G., Danchin, and Horst Fischer, eds. United Nations reform and the new collective security. Cambridge University Press, 2010: 33.]

Established on October 24, 1945, the United Nations succeeded the League of Nations as a versatile international organization with a global range and participation[footnoteRef:3]. Before Second World War, the League of Nation grappled with numerous challenges when mediating conflicts and ensuring security and peace on a global scale. However, when the conflict was going on, the U.S., France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and China decided to develop a new international organization to assist in the management of global affairs. Initially, the UN was conceptualized as states uniting against Japan, Italy, and Germany. The initial steps in the design of the UN and establishment of its functions and structures in making decisions were done by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States[footnoteRef:4]. The three state confronted various issues including the infamous ‘veto problem’ with disagreement arising over the most appropriate voting system. [3: Kenneth, Anderson, United Nations Collective Security and the United States Security Guarantee in an Age of Rising Multipolarity: The Security Council as Talking Shop of the Nations, Chicago Journal of International Law 10, no. 1 (2009): 59.] [4: Willard N., Hogan, International conflict and collective security. University Press of Kentucky, 2015: 3.]

The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York with regional offices in Nairobi, Vienna, and Geneva. The U.N. Charter stipulates its goals, which include saving the next generations from the conflict menace to restate confidence in basic human liberties, which include establishing conditions that support justice and respect for the responsibilities arising international law sources and treaties and encourage social advancement and better quality of life[footnoteRef:5]. Besides peace and security maintenance, the UN also focuses on establishing friendly associations among nations founded on the high regard for the principles of autonomy and equal rights and attaining global collaboration in solving humanitarian, cultural, social, and economic issues. Moreover, it supports and values human rights and functions as a center where nations can synchronize their activities and actions towards achieving the primary goals. [5: Kenneth, Anderson, United Nations Collective Security and the United States Security Guarantee in an Age of Rising Multipolarity: The Security Council as Talking Shop of the Nations, Chicago Journal of International Law 10, no. 1 (2009): 59.]

Modifications in the role of the UN and its apparatus for making decisions were associated with the transformations of international relations strategies. In the first 45 years, U.N.’s security function was profoundly affected by the tensions of Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States[footnoteRef:6]. The widespread decolonization after the Second World War in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa amplified the nature and volume of social, economic, and political concerns that challenged the organization. In 1991, after the Cold War came to a stop, the United Nations received renewed demands and attention[footnoteRef:7]. With the growing unstable geopolitical climate, the UN was faced with new issues that called for the establishment of functions and practices, particularly in the humanitarian and conflict resolution domain. The UN, its associated agencies, and programs encountered numerous challenges at the start of the 21 century when addressing the civil wars and humanitarian crises, international terrorism, and the unexpected flow of refugees[footnoteRef:8]. [6: Ibid., 60.] [7: Ramesh, Thakur, The United Nations, peace and security: from collective security to the responsibility to protect, Cambridge University Press, 2016:52] [8: Willard N., Hogan, International conflict and collective security. University Press of Kentucky, 2015: 3.]

They relied on the belief that Collective Security scheme would provide them with national security protection in exact measures as the powers that they had agreed to renounce[footnoteRef:9]. The concept of Collective Security is very different from the reactive approaches of engaging in war for instant state benefits. However, the U.N. Charter acknowledges the in-built right of self-defense both collectively and individually. Member states have always employed this right as a form of avoiding the binding obligations. In recent years, the Collective Security Concept has been under intense scrutiny because of how the right has been employed in the ‘War against Terror.[footnoteRef:10]’ The concerns arise from the conflicting interpretation of the Collective Security concept. For instance, the U.S. has a wider comprehension of the United Nations Charter’s article 51 that permits Collective Self-Defense in different situations. On the contrary, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) restricts the Article 51 provisions. Consequently, the essentiality of the Collective Security concept has been overshadowed by the Collective Self-Defense controversy. [9: Anthony Clark Arend, and Robert J. Beck, International law and the use of force: beyond the UN Charter paradigm, Routledge, 2014:71.] [10: Ramesh, Thakur, The United Nations, peace and security: from collective security to the responsibility to protect, Cambridge University Press, 2016:27.]
Evolution of the Collective Security Concept

The United Nations Organization was founded on the collective security doctrine. The Chapter VII provisions of the UN Charter have been the foundations of the multilateral safekeeping system envisioned by sponsoring the UN member states in 1945[footnoteRef:11]. The multilateral security system has been regarded important for peace preservation since Second World War ended and is among the fundamental components of the contemporary international law since it incorporates the sovereign equality concepts and the force non-utilization between countries. [11: Ramesh, Thakur, The United Nations, peace and security: from collective security to the responsibility to protect, Cambridge University Press, 2016:27.]

The primary function of collective security is to assist in the evolution of peaceful international relations. The collective security idea was first floated before World War 1. Article 17 of the Osnabruck treaty provided that every contracting party that every contracting part is responsible for defending and maintaining peace[footnoteRef:12]. In 1919, League of Nations was established and adopted some collective security concepts to a global system of averting war. Therefore, the collective system became League of Nations and the succeeding United Nations’ crowning principle. [12: Ibid.,30]

Collective Security Mechanism

The Collective Security system assures each country globally of security against aggression or war that another nation may commit against others[footnoteRef:13]. It is analogous to an insurance system where all states are bound to protect the victim of war or aggression by countering it. Presently, Collective Security is considered the most favorable strategy for internal peace. It is designed to protect security and peace and counter aggression and war globally. Aggression and war are considered a threat to international security and peace and collective security supports all nations in their attempts to defend peace[footnoteRef:14]. The fundamental principle of collective security is aggression or war against any international community’ member state is an aggression against the global security and peace. To this end, counteractive measures entail all nations’ collective measures. [13: Hans, Kelsen. Collective security under international law. Vol. 49. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2001:1.] [14: Peter G., Danchin, and Horst Fischer, eds. United Nations reform and the new collective security. Cambridge University Press, 2010: 115.]

Collective Security is primarily institutionalizing an international police force against breaches and abuse of order that can result in insecurity. In this arrangement, states collaborate on security provision for all actions against any UN member state that may be a threat to the rest of the countries[footnoteRef:15]. With the collective security system, the UN expects to deter any member state from acting in a way that would be a threat to peaceful coexistence and subsequently circumvent conflict. [15: Ibid., 155.]

For the collective security arrangement to be efficient, then it must be solid enough to survive belligerence from any authority or combined supremacies. Ideally, the principle entails nations being willing to apply sanction or even go to war whenever necessary[footnoteRef:16]. Collective security can only be practical if all member states are prepared to threaten the aggressor with sanctions simultaneously or fight. Furthermore, the nations must be willing to acknowledge the obligations…