ABSTRACT
This chapter looks to make sense of the paradox of change in the United Nations (UN) system, whereby an alteration in the behaviours of the member states can modify the rules of the organisation that bind the same members: rule-breaking behaviour thus becomes rule-making behaviour. It explains the central ideas behind complexity theory, focusing on emergence, the notion of the whole being greater than the sum of the component parts. The regulatory powers of the UN depend on an express grant of authority in the Charter. The chapter also examines the change that occurred in the UN system around the rules for voting in the Security Council, demonstrating how this came about in response to the 'empty chair' policy adopted by the Soviet Union in 1950. It evaluates the problem of innovations in practice, explaining how the problematic status of Resolution 80 (1950) can be resolved by foregrounding the factor of time.
