Uniting for Peace

Does it Still Serve Any Useful Purpose

Bibliographic Data

ID3751787
AuthorsLarry D Johnson, Larry Johnson (corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume108
Pages106-115
Publication date2014-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAJIL Unbound (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2398-7723 • E-ISSN: 2398-7723
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s2398772300001975
OpenAlexW3010987515
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited1

During the past several years, vetoes have been cast in the UN Security Council to block draft resolutions aimed at addressing the crises in Syria and Ukraine. Concerning Syria, Russia and China have vetoed three resolutions (the votes were 9-2-4 on October 4, 2011, 13-2-0 on February 4, 2012, and 11-2-2 on July 19, 2012). Concerning Ukraine, Russia vetoed a resolution just recently (the vote was 13-1-1 on March 15, 2014). The same question that arose in 1950 has thus arisen again today: can the General Assembly do anything when the Council is blocked because of a permanent member casting a veto? The answer is "yes." But the reason is not because of the Assembly's resolution 377A(V) of November 3, 1950 ("Uniting for Peace"), even though advocates of Assembly action frequently invoke it. Indeed, this resolution is for the most part no longer needed to provide a basis for Assembly "collective measures" recommendations when a veto proscribes the Council's adoption of such measures. Moreover, the resolution does not provide a basis or justification for the use of force that would not be justified on other grounds, such as self-defense

China · Conflict resolution · General assembly · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Security council · Sociology · Veto · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Public Administration

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access