ABSTRACT

The United Nations (UN) Military Staff Committee (MSC) is an obscure and much misunderstood subsidiary organ of the UN Security Council established under Article 47 of the UN Charter. It is not well known primarily because it has never really functioned as initially envisaged. It was meant to embody the co-operation of the great military powers during World War II, a sort of second in command of the Security Council, and a major tool to deal with threats to peace and security. But as cracks appeared in this co-operation, the MSC was the first organ to bear the consequences of the increasing division and suspicion, as it was dealing with security and military affairs. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to illuminate this poorly understood organ of the United Nations by tracing its historical development, to explain the continuous debate about its reactivation.