Example Of Peace In The International System Critical Thinking

The United Nation can be equated with peace and security, although its objectives are wider and entail promotion of human rights, social and economic development as well as self-determination. Nonetheless, the United Nation is the main collective security institution. The United Nation has a world-wide membership and various competences in security, peace as well as matching powers which entail the capability to make decisions on non-forcible measures as well as authorize various military actions that range from consensual pacification to full scale fighting. The United Nation has an ardent diplomatic function which is often channeled through the United Nation Secretary-General that builds on traditional types of dispute resolution between warring states.
Even though the Security Council has a primary responsibility to ensure maintenance of peace and stability and has been granted various types of powers in Chapters VII and VI of the United Nation Charter, the General Assembly has ability of making recommendations to the Security Council as well as member states on any issues that lies within the present Charter. Consequently, the General Assembly has secondary competence in issues touching on peace and security. Even though it is apparent that the Security Council can authorize use of force by different states as collective security actors there is a disagreement whether the General Assembly can recommend states to take military action, for example when the Council is deadlocked and the United Nation is experiencing an inherent and appalling force or an act of violence.
As an institution the United Nation is mandated to uphold international peace and stability and is also mandated to take collective actins to prevent potential threat and remove issues that will threaten peace. It is also mandated to suppress any acts that will cause aggression or breach peace. For any organization to attain its objectives it ought to have legal competence, personality as well as powers to attain its objective. For instance, the authority to command on how members should behave in a particular manner or the power to legally bind its members to behave in a particular manner. The Charter grants the United Nation powers to impose sanctions which include can include: suspension, expulsion, boycotts, denial of some rights and privileges, military measures as well as economic measures. Additionally, these powers are delegated to various organs within the organization. The United Nation gets autonomy as a CS institution because of CS organs that has different membership as well as types of majority voting.
The United has a responsibility of protecting member states. In a general context of the international law a strong proposition can be offered that the United Nation should prevent crimes against humanity, genocide , egregious human rights violations, since they have a duty on states and consequently on other actors and have rights to prevent violation of the international law. Nonetheless, considering that the Security Council main responsibility of maintaining peace there is likely to be when one puts more responsibility upon it particularly in a scenario where there is a proposed military action to help avoid crime against humanity since it is likely to degenerate the state of security and at same time endanger world peace. However, in 2011 the Security Council took appropriate actions to contain crimes against humanity in Libya. When the responses of the Security Council are analyzed it will show that it was focused on its primary duty for peace and security and secondarily on the responsibility to protect. The Key is the Security Council Resolution in 1973 that approved NATO use its military. During the Security Council meeting when the Resolution 1973 on Libya was espoused, the unison behind Resolution 1970 was broken to the level of disabling espousal of Resolution 1973 through 10 votes to 0 with 5 abstentions (China, Brazil, India, Germany, Russia). Not only were those abstaining advocates of non-intervention (Russia and China) but also pertinent states and each had a solid case for permanent membership.
Peace agreement is an important element that helps in maintenance of security and peace in the world. Peace agreements entail getting to a settlement through peaceful means which reflect on the principles of justice as well as international law. After the Cold War, the international standards begun to control peace agreements. Peace agreements are framed as legal documents that use legal language which binds both parties, however they do not fit within traditional legal categories like constitution, treaty and international agreement since the conflicts are internal and have international elements implies that peace agreements acts as a treaty between states as well as a constitution for the required state of peace that is expected to transpire from the decimating disorder. Of course, when the peace agreement entirely interstate the traditional law of treaties should apply, however a majority of modern peace agreement at their core involve an agreement between internal factions that in some situations is guaranteed by external states as actors of collective security and in most cases it is supported by the collective security institutions. Consequently, not only do modern peace agreement re-establish peace between states but also develop grounds for establishing sustainable peace and give security to both individuals and groups. Even though the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties applies only to agreements made between states, it states expressly that it does not overlook the legal implications of international agreements that were concluded between states as well as other subjects of international law as well as application of customary treaty rules to them.
Peace agreements have various functions. One of the functions is that of an international treaty. This function helps in stabilization of interstate peace and also develops guideline for internal processes between the war-shattered states. Collective security institution ought to decide whether they should involve states as parties or involve non-state actors and calculate the weaknesses of not having them. For instance, the US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement (1995) and the UN-brokered Cambodian Paris Peace Accord (1991) were primarily between states. In effect, state parties guarantee that they will deliver their ‘kindred’ non-state actors according to the normative and security framework developed by collective security actors and institutions.
A few months before the atomic bombing of Japan, it was pretty clear that Japan had been defeated. The United States insistence on unconditional surrender prevented the Japanese government from ending the war. The Japanese were mainly concerned about their emperor since they wanted their emperor to be maintained after the war (Wainstock 70). Diplomacy would have been embraced as a method of quelling the war. These would have helped in surrender of the Japanese without use of atomic bombs. Additionally, the atomic bomb which entailed use of poisonous gas had been banned during the Geneva protocol although the US had not signed the protocol Allied policy throughout World War II was not to use such weapons expect in retaliation. The use of atomic bomb which resulted in death of many innocent civilians was against the fundamental rules of war.
Presently diplomacy is adopted in most cases when there is a conflict between states or a state is likely to experience genocide or crimes against humanity. For instance, in Kenya when there was a stand-off after the 2007 general election between former president Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. Diplomacy helped in quelling the conflict between the two which helped in ending crimes against humanity in Kenya. There were several prominent personalities from various parts of the world who were involved in the diplomatic mission, for instance, Koffi Annan. Koffi Annan was instrumental in brokering the deal between the warring parties in Kenya.
As a result of crimes against humanity and genocide that has happened in various parts of the world it prompted the formation of International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is mainly concerned with delivering justice in various parts of the world after its members states has been involved experienced crimes against humanity or genocide. For instance, in Kenya the incumbent president and his vice president are suspected criminals in the 2007 violence that rocked the country and there is case is yet to be determined. The ICC is an institution that acts to ensure that there is peace in the world and individual who propagate genocide or crimes against humanity face the law. For instance, Charles Taylor a former president of Liberia was convicted in the International Criminal Court. With such institutions such as ICC there is a surety that the world will have continued peace and stability in future.
During World War II, the Japanese were obstinate and ready to fight; the war would have persisted for long. Consequently, this would have resulted in loss of many lives and property on both sides. Even though, dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in a high death toll it helped to end a war which would have would have put the entire planet at risk. Not only did the bomb help in ending the war, but also helped in establishment of long-term relationship between Japan and US. This relationship has been advantageous to the Japanese.
The use of atomic bomb was timely since the war could not have ended easily. This helped in ending the war since the Japanese were slowly surrendering to US. However, the war was still going on and this resulted in use of tax payers’ money on a war that did not have any importance to them instead it helped in advancing selfish interests of the leaders. The war stalled development projects as well as economy in general. Additionally, since there was no weapon of mass destruction that had been developed before the atomic bomb it was opportune to test how the weapon would work as well as its ramifications. Consequently, this would help in determining how disastrous are the weapon. Eventually it helped avoidance of use of nuclear weapon since it is unprecedented.