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The Palgrave Handbook of Peacebuilding in Africa pp 177–194Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The UN Security Council and Africa: Playing New Games and Applying New Rules and Moves

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Abstract

This chapter seeks to unveil the inner workings of the United Nations (UN) Security Council through a detailed historical and political analysis of a wide range of precedent-setting responses to internal and international conflicts in Africa. In so doing, it makes a compelling case for the argument that Africa has long been the prime testing-ground for the Security Council, and especially so since the end of the Cold War. The “games” that the Council has played on the continent have allowed it to test innovative, and at times intrusive, responses to the challenges of maintaining international peace and security, spanning peacekeeping, peacebuilding, generalised and targeted sanctions, military interventions, international criminal accountability, and human rights. Interestingly, most of these innovations have been adopted with the acquiescence of the African Council members at the time, but for the most part have yet to be applied to situations beyond Africa.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Adekeye Adebajo, UN Peacekeeping in Africa: From the Suez Crisis to the Sudan Conflicts (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2011), p. 1. Adebajo uses the phrase “the games that great powers play”.

  2. 2.

    Arthur Conolly, Journey to the North of India, Overland from England, Through Russia, Persia, and Afghanistan (London: R. Bentley, 1834); Rudyard Kipling, Kim (London: Macmillan, 1901).

  3. 3.

    Thomas Packenham, The Boer War (London: Abacus, 2012), p. 64.

  4. 4.

    See John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern, Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1944).

  5. 5.

    James D. Morrow, Game Theory for Political Scientists (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 1.

  6. 6.

    The first situations or questions addressed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council were Iran (2nd meeting, 25 January 1946), Spain (39th meeting, 29 April 1946), and Greece (82nd meeting, 10 December 1946, which also involved Albania and Bulgaria).

  7. 7.

    The first situations or questions addressed by the UN Security Council were Guatemala (675th meeting, 20 June 1956) and Egypt (735th meeting, 5 October 1956). Egypt had previously been addressed not as a situation in itself but as one of the Arab parties to the Armistice Agreements for Palestine (1949).

  8. 8.

    Just in 1960, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, and Togo were admitted. Current official names are used here, for consistency. Morocco and Tunisia had been admitted in 1956, Ghana in 1957, and Guinea in 1958.

  9. 9.

    Britain is used synonymously with the United Kingdom (UK) in this volume.

  10. 10.

    Letter from the Representatives of France and the United Kingdom addressed to the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/3645, 12 September 1956.

  11. 11.

    As acknowledged in UN Security Council Resolution 119, S/RES/119, 31 October 31 1956; adopted 7-2-2, with France and Britain voting against and Australia and Belgium abstaining.

  12. 12.

    This resolution, adopted to address the Korean War, allows the General Assembly to seize itself of a situation already under consideration by the Security Council, when the Council is deadlocked due to the use, or threat of use, of the veto by its permanent members. UN General Assembly Resolution 377 A (V), 3 November 1950.

  13. 13.

    UN Security Council Resolution 161, S/RES/161, 21 February 1961; adopted 9-0-2, with France and the Soviet Union abstaining.

  14. 14.

    See Bruno Stagno Ugarte and Jared Genser, “Evolution of the Security Council’s Engagement on Human Rights”, in Jared Genser and Bruno Stagno Ugarte (eds.), The United Nations Security Council in the Age of Human Rights (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 3–31.

  15. 15.

    Bruno Simma, Hermann Mosler, Albrecht Randelzhofer, Christian Tomuschat, and Rüdiger Wolfrum (eds.), The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 751.

  16. 16.

    See Bruno Stagno Ugarte, “Collaborating with Regional Organizations”, in Sebastian von Einsiedel, David M. Malone, and Bruno Stagno Ugarte, (eds.) The UN Security Council in the 21st Century (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2015), pp. 475–490; Stephen A. Schlesinger, Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations—A Story of Superpowers, Secret Agents, Wartime Allies and Enemies, and Their Quest for a Peaceful World (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2003).

  17. 17.

    Adebajo, UN Peacekeeping in Africa, p. xvi.

  18. 18.

    UN Security Council Resolution 182, S/RES/182, 4 December 1963; adopted unanimously.

  19. 19.

    UN Security Council Resolution 190, S/RES/190, 9 June 1964; adopted 7-0-4, with Brazil, France, Britain, and the United States (US) abstaining. UN Security Council Resolution 191, S/RES/191, 18 June 1964; adopted 8-0-3, with Czechoslovakia, France, and the Soviet Union abstaining.

  20. 20.

    UN Security Council Resolutions 610 and 615, S/RES/610 and S/RES/615, 13 March and 17 June 1988; adopted unanimously. UN Security Council Resolution 623, S/RES/623, 23 November 1988; adopted 13-0-2, with Britain and the US abstaining.

  21. 21.

    UN Security Council Resolution 181, S/RES/181, 7 August 1963; adopted 9-0-2, with France and Britain abstaining.

  22. 22.

    UN Security Council Resolution 418, S/RES/418, 4 November 1977; adopted unanimously.

  23. 23.

    UN Security Council Resolution 421, S/RES/421, 9 December 1977; adopted unanimously.

  24. 24.

    UN Security Council Resolution 919, S/RES/919, 25 May 1994; adopted unanimously.

  25. 25.

    UN Charter, Article 6.

  26. 26.

    UN Security Council Resolution 269, S/RES/269, 12 August 1969; adopted 11-0-4, with Finland, France, Britain, and the US abstaining.

  27. 27.

    UN Security Council Draft Resolution, S/11543, 6 June 1974; adoption failed due to vetoes cast by France, Britain, and the US.

  28. 28.

    Simma et al., The Charter of the United Nations, p. 213.

  29. 29.

    UN Security Council Resolution 216, S/RES/216, 12 November 1965; adopted 10-0-1, with France abstaining.

  30. 30.

    UN Security Council Resolution 217, S/RES/217, 20 November 1965; adopted 10-0-1, with France abstaining.

  31. 31.

    UN Security Council Resolution 221, S/RES/221, 9 August 1966; adopted 10-0-5, with Bulgaria, France, Mali, the Soviet Union, and Uruguay abstaining.

  32. 32.

    Simma et al., The Charter of the United Nations, pp. 126–127. The situation in the Korean peninsula was considered to be a breach of the peace.

  33. 33.

    Simma et al., The Charter of the United Nations, p. 751.

  34. 34.

    UN Security Council Resolution 232, S/RES/232, 16 December 1966; adopted 11-0-4, with Bulgaria, France, Mali, and the Soviet Union abstaining.

  35. 35.

    UN Security Council Resolution 253, S/RES/253, 29 May 1968; adopted unanimously.

  36. 36.

    UN Security Council Resolution 448, S/RES/448, 30 April 1979; adopted 12-0-3, with France, the United Kingdom, and the United States abstaining.

  37. 37.

    UN Security Council Resolution 246, S/RES/246, 14 March 1968; adopted unanimously.

  38. 38.

    UN Security Council Resolution 284, S/RES/284, 29 July 1970; adopted 12-0-3, with Poland, the Soviet Union, and Britain abstaining.

  39. 39.

    Simma et al., The Charter of the United Nations, p. 461.

  40. 40.

    UN General Assembly Resolutions 3111 (XXVIII), 12 December 1973; 31/146 and 31/152, 20 December 1976; and 40/97, 13 December 1985.

  41. 41.

    UN Security Council Resolution 566, S/RES/566, 15 June 1985; adopted 13-0-2, with Britain and the US abstaining.

  42. 42.

    Simma et al., The Charter of the United Nations, p. 293.

  43. 43.

    UN Security Council Resolution 294, S/RES/294, 15 July 1971; adopted 13-0-2, with Britain and the US abstaining.

  44. 44.

    UN Security Council Resolution 312, S/RES/312, 4 February 1972; adopted 9-0-6, with Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy, Britain, and the US abstaining.

  45. 45.

    UN Security Council Resolution 546, S/RES/546, 6 January 1984; adopted 13-0-2, with Britain and the US abstaining. UN Security Council Resolution 574, S/RES/574, 7 October 1985; adopted unanimously.

  46. 46.

    UN General Assembly Resolution 2863 (XXVI), 20 December 1971.

  47. 47.

    UN Security Council Resolution 308, S/RES/308, 19 January 1972; adopted unanimously.

  48. 48.

    UN Security Council Resolution 309, S/RES/309, 4 February 1972; adopted 14-0-0, as China registered no vote. UN Security Council Resolution 310, S/RES/310, 4 February 1972; adopted 13-0-2, with France and Britain abstaining. UN Security Council Resolution 311, S/RES/311, 4 February 1972; adopted 14-0-1, with France abstaining. And the previously cited UN Security Council Resolution 312, S/RES/312, 4 February 1972; adopted 9-0-6, with Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy, Britain, and the US abstaining.

  49. 49.

    UN Security Council Resolution 199, S/RES/199, 30 December 1964; adopted 10-0-1, with France abstaining.

  50. 50.

    UN Security Council Resolution 626, S/RES/626, 20 December 1988; adopted unanimously. UN Security Council Resolution 632, S/RES/632, 16 February 1989; adopted unanimously.

  51. 51.

    James Cockayne, Christoph Mikulaschek, and Chris Perry, “The United Nations Security Council and Civil War: First Insights from a New Dataset”, International Peace Institute, September 2010, p. 19.

  52. 52.

    UN Security Council Resolution 866, S/RES/866, 22 September 1993; adopted unanimously.

  53. 53.

    UN Security Council Resolution 1769, S/RES/1769, 31 July 2007; adopted unanimously.

  54. 54.

    UN Security Council Resolution 2100, S/RES/2100, 25 April 2013; adopted unanimously.

  55. 55.

    Security Council Report, “July 2013 Monthly Forecast” (New York, 28 June 2013), p. 12.

  56. 56.

    UN Security Council Resolution 731, S/RES/731, 21 January 1992; adopted unanimously.

  57. 57.

    UN Security Council Resolution 748, S/RES/748, 31 March 1992; adopted 10-0-5, with Cape Verde, China, India, Morocco, and Zimbabwe abstaining.

  58. 58.

    Letter from the Secretary of the People’s Bureau of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Registrar of the International Court of Justice, 3 March 1992, http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/88/7207.pdf, p. 5.

  59. 59.

    Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Resolution AHG/Dec.1–27 (XXXIV), 10 June 1998.

  60. 60.

    UN Security Council Resolution 827, S/RES/827, 25 May 1993; adopted unanimously.

  61. 61.

    UN Security Council Resolution 955, S/RES/955, 8 November 1994; adopted 13-1-1, with Rwanda voting against and China abstaining.

  62. 62.

    Report of the Secretary-General on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone, UN Doc. S/2000/915, 4 October 2000.

  63. 63.

    UN Security Council Resolution 1315, S/RES/1315, 14 August 2000; adopted unanimously.

  64. 64.

    UN Security Council Resolution 1593, S/RES/1593, 31 March 2005; adopted 11-0-4, with Algeria, Brazil, China, and the US abstaining.

  65. 65.

    UN Security Council Resolution 1970, S/RES/1970, 26 February 2011; adopted unanimously.

  66. 66.

    UN Security Council Resolution 1674, S/RES/1674, 28 April 2006; adopted unanimously.

  67. 67.

    See Global Center for Responsibility to Protect, http://www.globalr2p.org/resources/335 (accessed 25 March 2016).

  68. 68.

    Security Council Report, “The Security Council and the UN Peacebuilding Commission” (New York, 18 April 2013), p. 3.

  69. 69.

    Letters from the President of the Security Council Addressed to the Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission, UN Doc. PBC/1/OC/2, 21 June 2006, in the case of Burundi and Sierra Leone; UN Doc. S/2008/419, 12 June 2008, in the case of the Central African Republic; UN Doc. S/2007/744, 11 December 2007, in the case of Guinea-Bissau; UN Doc. S/2010/389, 9 July 2010, in the case of Liberia.

  70. 70.

    Note by the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/2002/207, 1 March 2002.

  71. 71.

    Adebajo, UN Peacekeeping in Africa, p. 237.

  72. 72.

    See Stagno Ugarte, “Collaborating with Regional Organizations”, pp. 486–487.

  73. 73.

    UN Security Council Presidential Statement, S/PRST/2014/4, 14 February 2014.

  74. 74.

    Gerard Prunier, Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 336.

  75. 75.

    See Summary Statement by the Secretary-General, UN Doc. S/2016/10, 4 January 2016.

  76. 76.

    UN Security Council Affairs Division, “Highlights of Security Council Practice 2015”, http://www.un.org/en/sc/inc/pages/pdf/highlights/2015.pdf (accessed 25 March 2016).

  77. 77.

    See Joint communiqué of the Ninth Annual Joint Consultative Meeting Between the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and Members of the United Nations Security Council, UN Doc. S/2015/212, 27 March 2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Rights Watch, New York, USA

    Bruno Stagno Ugarte

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. N’Zarama Centre for Peacebuilding, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

    Tony Karbo

  2. Centre for Conflict Resolution, Cape Town, South Africa

    Kudrat Virk

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Stagno Ugarte, B. (2018). The UN Security Council and Africa: Playing New Games and Applying New Rules and Moves. In: Karbo, T., Virk, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Peacebuilding in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62202-6_10

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