Acceso usuarios
Joseph H. H. Weiler
It was a feature of the Cold War that the Security Council was essentially immobil ized in its principal functions under Chapter VII and at times Chapter VI. Since most conflicts were refracted through the dichotomous politics of the Super Powers and at times protagonists were little more than clients of the antagonists of the Cold War, both holding the veto, the Security Council was at best a place to hear canned ideological speeches before washing such down in one of NYC's more salubrious eateries surrounding the Shoebox.
The year 1989 ushered in a different politics and a different paradigm. Suddenly, though far from perfect, the Security Council was no longer that dead letter of the past, with important initiatives carried out under its auspices and with its authority. The difference between Iraq I and Iraq II was telling: Iraq II was not a regress to the Cold War, a sign of failure and irrelevance. Iraq II was a functioning Security Council exercising its authority to say � at best or worst � a muted No.
The wars and bloodshed that trouble us most now are no longer the surrogate conflicts of the Cold War, internal or international. One is most concerned with dreadful and savage internal conflict, which can no longer with any credibility come under the gruesome legitimacy of "self-determination", with its "hands off" legal implication. Darfur in the past, and Syria � 25,000 senseless dead, 250,000 homeless and displaced and even larger numbers of external refugees � right now bracket a whole range of humanitarian catastrophes, mostly man made.
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has featured in these pages with some fanfare, but somehow has not translated into an operational duty of action on the body at the centre of such potentialities, the Security Council.
