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Issue 1: April - June 2000 |
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UNU Study Calls For Unless world powers agree on principles to guide similar situations in future, the precedent set in Kosovo, whereby national sovereignty was disregarded on humanitarian grounds, could dangerously undermine international order, according to a newly-released UNU report, Kosovo and the Challenge of Humanitarian Intervention. The report, co-edited by by UNU Vice Rector Ramesh Thakur and Albrecht Schnabel, suggests reform of the Security Council, including possible suspension of the five permanent members' veto power, in votes on "exceptional circumstances" like those presented by the Kosovo crisis.
"Faced with another Holocaust or Rwanda-type genocide on the one hand, and a Security Council veto on the other, what would we do?" asks Mr. Thakur. "A new consensus on humanitarian intervention is urgently needed." "The permanent members and their interests should not prevent the Security Council from getting involved and stall the UN's attempts to provide assistance to those in need," added Mr. Schnabel. "Otherwise, we might see more NATO-style actions with less or no UN involvement -- and thus less order and less justice in our global community." NATO last year bombed Yugoslavia to stop persecution of Kosovar Albanians without sanction of the UN. The study argues that if NATO had not acted, action in the Security Council would have been blocked by Russian and Chinese opposition. Fallout from the Kosovo crisis "has the potential to redraw the landscape of international politics, with significant ramifications for the UN, major powers and regional organizations, and the way in which world politics are understood and interpreted," the study says. Associated Press |
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