"Uniting for Peace" - Ein Ruckblick nach 50 Jahren

In: Die Friedens-Warte: Journal of International Peace and Organization, Band 76, Heft 2-3, S. 289-303

Abstract

By Resolution 377 A (V), adopted in 1950, the UN General Assembly claimed for itself the power to recommend measures, including the use of armed force, for the maintenance of international peace & security should the Security Council in an actual conflict fail to exercise its primary responsibility. The resolution, conceived as an instrument to combat aggression, has in practice mainly served as legal basis for the convening of emergency sessions. In the Kosovo crisis, the group of NATO states refrained from securing authority for its planned air operations against Yugoslavia from the General Assembly. During the last decades, neither the US nor the Soviet Union/Russia have been interested in fostering any uprising against the Security Council. However, in view of a certain erosion of the Council's authority a revitalization of Resolution 377 A (V) is to be expected if the legitimacy of the Council is not strengthened through increased representation of Third World countries, in particular among its permanent members. Adapted from the source document.