The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice Since 1945
The United Nations suffers not only from derision and dismissal but also from unrealistic expectations about what it can and should achieve. It is therefore valuable to have a balanced and critical analysis of all aspects of the UN Security Council and war. This substantial, comprehensive, and authoritative volume contains 28 chapters by leading academics, lawyers, and practitioners, plus detailed appendices covering UN resolutions, sanctions, and operations. The contributors demonstrate how the council has managed to evolve without straying too far from the framework established by the original UN Charter and while taking into account the changing character of war. One complaint is that although most of the major events since 1945 are well covered, for some unaccountable reason there is no mention of the 1982 Falklands War.
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If conflict in Rhodesia or Viet Nam-or half a dozen other places-should develop in a way that makes a United Nations peacekeeping force desirable and even urgent, what would happen? Could such a force be organized? Would the Soviet Union and France try to block action if the force were created by the General Assembly? Where would the troops come from? Would they be authorized to use their weapons? Who would pay for the undertaking?
Michael J. Glennon got it wrong: don't count the UN Security Council out yet.
Noel Malcolm's history of Serbia's flashpoint province is marred by his sympathies for its ethnic Albanian separatists, anti-Serbian bias, and illusions about the Balkans.

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