Oct 21 2004
The conflict in Dafur shows that the UN cannot guarantee international peace and security all by itself. The UN Security Council is too splintered to take resolute action to resolve the crisis, and international law does not allow any effective diplomatic alternatives.
Gustaf Lind maintains in his recently submitted dissertation at the Department of Law, Stockholm University, that regional organizations of states should be granted greater powers to act in cases where the UN is paralyzed. One example is that the African Union should have the right to intervene to stop the genocide in Dafur even though this is prohibited by international law.
The dissertation deals with the UN Charter regulations for regional organizations acting for international peace. Examples of such organizations are the EU, NATO, and the African Union. The study shows that the UN Charter and international law are poorly equipped to deal with international cooperation in regional organizations, which means that their peace-making capacity cannot be fully utilized.
Gustaf Lind argues that regional organizations should be assigned a more powerful role in international law. These organizations should have the right to act in certain situations where states are not allowed to take action, for example, to use military violence to stop massive violations of human rights.
“Unfortunately it is difficult to amend the content of the UN Charter by making formal changes,” says Gustaf. “But this does not mean that the content is unchangeable. The Charter has been reinterpreted in various areas, such as the voting regulations for the Security Council. It should be possible to do something similar in order to grant more power to regional organizations.”
Title of doctoral dissertation: The Revival of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter-Regional Organizations and Collective Security.