1. The UN Security Council… Keeping the Peace

2. In the UN Charter…  Has primary responsibility for peace & security  Can recommend solutions to countries to solve disputes  Can recommend countries work through regional groups to solve disputes  Countries can submit situations they believe endanger peace & security to the Security Council  Can apply economic sanctions, ban travel to a country, use financial or diplomatic restrictions  Can use military force

3. The Security Council also  Makes a recommendation to the General Assembly for Secretary-General  Helps to elect judges to the ICJ  Recommends new countries to the GA for membership into the UN  Did you know… the newest member of the UN is Montenegro (2006)

4. Membership  Originally there were 11 members; 5 permanent and 6 non-permanent  1965 four more members were added to make the current 15  Five countries are chosen each year  The presidency of the SC rotates each month, in alphabetical order using the English alphabet  It is a CONTINUOUS body; there is always one member in New York in case a situation needs to be brought to the attention of the SC

5. The regional balance…  2 from Africa  1 from the Arab Muslim World  2 from Asia  2 from Latin America & the Caribbean  1 from Western Europe  1 from Eastern Europe  1 other Western nation Did they do it? Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Gabon, Germany, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa

6. Veto power…

7. Uniting for Peace Resolution   Proposed by the US because of USSR’s use of veto to block SC actions   USSR had ended its boycott and returned to the SC August 1950   Resolution 377 was adopted by the GA November 1950   It states “that where the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the General Assembly shall seize itself of the matter”

8. Authorizing use of force  The Korean War was the first authorized use of force.

9. Korean War   Korea was divided at the end of WW II   1947 elections were to be held to unify Korea under one government   The elections were to be supervised by the UN   The UN declared elections in the south to be fair, but the Russians would not let UN observers in the north   This solidified the division between north and south   By 1948, both sides formed separate governments

10. Korean War   North Korea invaded South Korea June 1950   The US introduced a resolution to support South Korea, calling on North Korea to return to its side of the 38 th parallel   The USSR was boycotting the SC at that time so the resolution passed (9 for, 1 abstention)  General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Commander of UN Forces  Over 16 nations fought with South Korea & the USA, including Australia, Luxembourg, India, Colombia, the Philippines, France, the UK.

11. Authorized use of force  The second authorized use of force was the Persian Gulf War 1991  In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait & seized oil fields  UN demanded Iraq withdraw and instituted a trade embargo  Iraq blew up Kuwait’s oil wells & pumped 1.5 million gallons of oil into the Gulf  Coalition troops included US, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, Egypt, Honduras, Italy, the Philippines

12. UN Peacekeepers  Known as the “Blue Helmets”  Organized and supervised by the SC  First mission was 1948 when UN sent observers to monitor cease fire in the Middle East between Israel and other nations  There have been 64 peacekeeping missions around the world  There are currently 15 peacekeeping mission in operation

15. Reform… How many countries should be in the SC?  Proposals…  1. increase the total number of members  2. increase the number of veto power countries  3. eliminate the use of veto power  4. curtail the use of veto power  5. veto power countries explain their use of the veto on specific resolutions to the General Assembly

16. Changes that have occurred…  Holding more public meetings  Consult more frequently with countries and NGOs that are involved in the issue under discussion  Sanctions monitoring to better evaluate the effectiveness of sanctions  Website with easy access to debates and resolutions

17. Sources…  http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/ http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/  http://www.globalpolicy.org/security-council.html http://www.globalpolicy.org/security-council.html  http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/specpk.htm http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/specpk.htm  http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/ http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/  http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_korean_war.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_korean_war.htm  http://www.korean-war.com/unitednations.html http://www.korean-war.com/unitednations.html  http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/ufp/ufp.html http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/ufp/ufp.html  http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Montenegro.svg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Montenegro.svg  http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/ http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/  http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/list.shtml