ABSTRACT
Resolution 687 derived from a series of resolutions which the Security Council adopted after the occupation and annexation of Kuwait by Iraq on 2 August 1990. The first of these resolutions was 660 which, condemned the invasion and demanded Iraq’s immediate withdrawal. UNSC Resolution 661 on 6 August imposed mandatory economic sanctions against Iraq and established a committee to monitor them. These resolutions authorized and channeled growing pressure against Iraq,10 and especially Resolution 678 on 29 November which foresaw the use ‘of all necessary means’ to uphold and implement Resolution 660 to put an end to Iraq’s aggression against Kuwait. Resolution 665 on 25 August contained a call upon Member States to use ‘measures commensurate as may be necessary to halt’ inward and outward maritime shipping, thus authorizing the US to commence its full naval blockade of Iraq. This resolution is heralded as ‘the most striking example of Soviet-American cooperation’ and opened the way for the later use-of-force authorization.
