The UN Security Council and the Maintenance of Peace in a Changing World

Three experts present their perspectives on the Security Council's role in maintaining peace in a changing international order.

Congyan Cai (Author), Larissa van den Herik (Author), Tiyanjana Maluwa (Author), Anne Peters (Edited by), Christian Marxsen (Edited by)

9781009423472, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 February 2024

322 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

How can the UN Security Council contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in times of heightened tensions, global polarisation, and contestation about the principles underlying the international legal and political order? In this Trialogue, experts with diverse geographic, socio-legal, and ideational backgrounds present their perspectives on the Security Council's historic development, its present functions and deficits, and its defining tensions and future trajectories. Three approaches engage with each other: a power-focused approach emphasising the role of China as an emerging actor; an institutionalist perspective exploring how less powerful states, particularly the elected members of the Security Council, exert influence and may strengthen rule-of-law standards; a regionalist perspective investigating how the Security Council as the central actor can cooperate with regional organisations towards maintaining international peace and security. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Introduction: the Security Council's four defining fields of tensions Christian Marxsen
1. The UN Security Council and the maintenance of peace in the global power shift Congyan Cai
2. The UN Security Council – reflections on institutional strength Larissa van den Herik
3. The UN Security Council between centralism and regionalism Tiyanjana Maluwa
Conclusion: power, procedures, and periphery: the Security Council in the Ukraine war Anne Peters.

Subject Areas: International humanitarian law [LBBS]