ABSTRACT
Introduction The United Nations (UN) was founded in 1945 to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’.2 This phrase from the first line of the UN Charter makes clear, together with the Charter as a whole, that the purpose of the organisation is to prevent and end major armed conflict. Law dominates the UN approach to preserving the peace, beginning with the fact that the UN Charter is a multilateral treaty with binding obligations for all member states. Those obligations include, most importantly, the interconnected set of substantive rules prohibiting resort to force except in limited circumstances.3 The substantive rules further mandate the peaceful settlement of disputes and empower the UN Security Council (UNSC) to respond to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. The UNSC has the power to authorise the use of force if alternative measures short of force prove ‘inadequate’.4 The Charter also responds to the problem of war indirectly through promoting human rights and economic development.5 The third component of the Charter is the UN itself, which provides opportunities for states to consult long before any dispute reaches a crisis stage. The UN has various agencies able to assist in conflict prevention and peaceful settlement of disputes, such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the office of the UN Secretary-General (UNSG).6
