Michael Rossi
Department of Political Science
Program in International Relations
This lecture discusses the capabilities and responsibilities of the United Nations in maintaining peace and collective security. More specifically, it asks if the UN has both the right and the moral obligation to intervene in the affairs of a state.
As part of the UN Charter, the United Nations has a series of principles to uphold and defend, and state sovereignty, which has long been understood as a monopoly on authority, takes precedence over external interference. But in the wake of the Second World War, and in light of a number of safeguards smaller states wanted the UN to be empowered with at the San Francisco Convention, the United Nations does have a moral responsibility to defend human rights and promote human well-being. If this means intervening in the affairs of a state or group of states through a variety of measures other than military action, then so be it.
Chapter Markers
00:00:00 - 00:11:23 - The International System of the Past Thirty Years
00:11:23 - 00:16:31 - Three Big Questions
00:16:31 - 00:19:51 - Actors in the United Nations System
00:19:51 - 00:29:24 - The Primary, yet Dwindling, Power of States
00:29:24 - 00:32:10 - The UN and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security
00:32:10 - 00:35:19 - And What Kind of Intervention is Warranted?
00;35:19 - 00:37:24 - Liberalist Principles for Intervention
00:37:24 - 00:50:48 - What Constitutes "Intervention"?
00:50:48 - 00:52:15 - Where UN Peacekeepers Have Been Deployed
00:52:15 - 00:54:12 - Current UN Peacekeeping Operations Around the World
00:54:12 - 00:56:25 - Who is Manning the Peacekeeping Missions?
00:56:25 - 01:00:00 - The Limited Success of Peacekeeping
01:00:00 - 01:17:38 - Intervention and Selective Diplomacy for R2P
01:17:38 - 01:24:58 - A Summation of Concepts of Intervention
01:24:58 - 01:37:28 - So, Can the UN Intervene?
