In the aftermath of World War II, various States saw the compelling necessity of collective action “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” which in the words of the preamble to the United Nations Charter “twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind” The establishment of the UN is principally, to quote Article 1 of the UN Charter designed to “maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.”
Notwithstanding this grand objective, violent conflicts including civil wars, wars for democracy, and liberation struggles, amongst many others, have ravaged global peace. The Security Council of the UN is often paralyzed by political gridlock. In addition, the collective action envisioned by the founders of the UN has often yielded to geopolitical and sectionalist forces. The result is that the UN seems to struggle with maintaining international peace and security. This course interrogates the structure and processes by which the UN grapples with the task of maintaining international peace and security, especially, in the age of state failure and state-building. In 2025-2026, the course will use the case of Libyan civil war as a template for studying the mechanics, politics, legality, and normativity of UN roles in peace maintenance, good governance, and state-building.
By the end of the course, students are expected to have gained a fuller understanding of:
1. The role and function of the UN in peace maintenance;
2. The geo-political calculations and economic considerations that often influence decision-making by permanent members of the UN Security Council;
3. The successes and failures of the UN Security Council in peace-maintenance across the globe;
4. The structure and processes of peace-making since 1945;
5. The root causes of state-failure, especially in Africa;
6. State-building and the geo-politics of multilateral efforts at peace maintenance;
7. The theoretical frameworks of international institutions committed to peace maintenance;
8. And, the need for reform of the UN Security Council.
Method of Evaluation:
1. Attendance is 10%
2. Class presentation is 20%
3. Long essay of no more than 8000 words is 70%