ABSTRACT
Until a few years ago it would have been difficult to fashion a quorum of policymakers or scholars to salute the UN’s role in peace and security. Notwithstanding the occasional moments that the Security Council and peacekeeping forces have offered effective mechanisms for conflict resolution, few policymakers took seriously the promise of the United Nations as envisioned in 1945. It seemed that any international peace and security issue of real significance was channeled to and handled by other forums. Scholars too were equally dismissive of the United Nations and its workings. This is particularly noticeable of realist scholarship, which viewed the UN as either unimportant, an expression of power politics, or an idealist institution that might jeopardize the state’s security interests if taken seriously. Even those who saw some merit in security institutions largely overlooked the UN in favor of regional organizations such as NATO or the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). In short, there were few compelling practical or theoretical reasons to consider the UN’s contribution to international security.
