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After the war in Iraq: UN Security Council in crisis?
8-9/2003
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[ Expert discussion in Berlin ]
After the war in Iraq: UN Security Council in crisis?
Did the United Nations fail because it could not stop the USA and Britain going to war against Iraq? Or did its opposition make clear the war's illegal character under international law and thus manifest the UN's steadfastness and primacy? This question, among others, was the focus of a discussion round in Berlin on June 24 to which the Friedrich Ebert Foundation invited experts from around the world. While opinions differed on whether the Security Council is emerging strengthened or weakened from the Iraq crisis, the participants agreed that the USA, which also under earlier presidents bypassed the UN, would not be disloyal to it on a lasting basis. Even the critics of the unilateral Bush course said they believed that was unlikely. Instead, they accused Germany and France of having relented prematurely by their approval of the UN resolution which is to regulate reconstruction in Iraq rather than leaving the problem to those responsible for the destruction there. Now, said Winrich Kühne, Director of the Berlin-based Centre for International Peace Operations, the Security Council was once again the appendage of the USA.
There was consensus that the balance of power in the Security Council would not permit a fundamental reform of the body in the foreseeable future. Christoph Zöpel, Social Democratic Party (SPD) MP in the German Bundestag and chairman of its sub-committee 'United Nations', said only unexpected events could trigger a root-and-branch UN reform. For example, if the USA and China joined forces against North Korea, or China, India and Russia formed a coalition, or France and Britain gave up their permanent seats in favour of a single representative of the European Union. Adekeye Adebaja, responsible for the Africa programme of the International Peace Academy, in New York, demanded a greater African presence on the Council and democratic voting procedures. However, the ideas on new criteria for membership of the Security Council remained vague in Berlin. Political scientist Jeffrey Laurenti, of the United Nations Association, suggested that the Council members be replaced every 10 years by others from the countries which in the last decade had provided the most troops and money for peacekeeping measures.
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