1st Edition
The UN Security Council and the Politics of International Authority
Observes how the growth of the political authority of the Council challenges the basic idea that states have legal autonomy over their domestic affairs. The individual essays survey the implications that flow from these developments in the crucial policy areas of: terrorism; economic sanctions; the prosecution of war crimes; human rights; humanitarian intervention; and the use of force. In each of these areas, the evidence shows a complex and fluid relation between state sovereignty, the power of the United Nations, and the politics of international legitimation. Demonstrating how world politics has come to accommodate the contradictory institutions of international authority and international anarchy, this book makes an important contribution to how we understand and study international organizations and international law. Written by leading experts in the field, this volume will be of strong interest to students and scholars of international relations, international organizations, international law and global governance.
1 Introduction, Bruce Cronin and Ian Hurd
Part I: Concepts and Methods
2 International Authority and International Relations Theory, Ian Hurd
3 A Strategic Approach to Understanding Security Council Authority, Erik Voeten
Part II: Security Council Authority and International Law
4 International Consensus and the Changing Legal Authority of the Security Council, Bruce Cronin
5 Legislating by the Security Council: Resolutions 1373 and 1540, Ian Johnstone
Part III: Security Council Authority and Political Practice
6 Creating Authority by the Council: The International Criminal Tribunals, Wayne Sandholtz
7 The Security Council and the Challenges and Perils of Normative Overstretch, George Andreopoulos
8 NGOs and the Security Council: Authority All Around But For Whose Interest? Jon Graubart
9 The Uniting for Peace Resolution: And Other Ways of Circumventing the Authority of the Security Council? Mitushi Das and Jean Krasno
Biography
Bruce Cronin is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Master’s Program in International Relations at the City College of New York, USA. He is the author of Institutions for the Common Good: International Protection Regimes in International Society and Community Under Anarchy: Transnational Identity and the Evolution of Cooperation.
Ian Hurd is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, USA. He is the author of After Anarchy: Legitimacy and Power in the UN Security Council.
‘This is a highly welcome volume by a distinguished group of scholars that provides a clear-eyed assessment of the workings of the UN Security Council. By marrying a thoroughgoing assessment of the concept of international authority, diverse theoretical perspectives, and a sharp understanding of the workings of the Security Council, this volume invites us to use the concept of authority to rethink what we think we know about the UN Security Council, and to use the UN Security Council to re-examine the nature of international authority.’
Michael Barnett, Harold Stassen Chair of International Relations, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and adjunct professor of political science, University of Minnesota, USA
‘A volume of thoughtful essays culminating in a stimulating chapter of conclusions by the editors.’
David M. Malone, author of The International Struggle over Iraq: Politics in the UN Security Council and High Commissioner of Canada, India
