ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that the chief symbol and the main dispenser of international legitimacy in the contemporary world is the United Nations Organization. It also argues that factional challenges to the Multinational Force were generated by its being perceived as illegitimate by important segments of Lebanese society. The concept of legitimacy acts as the connecting link between the exercise of authority and the recourse to power: "what clearly distinguishes authority from coercion, force and power on the one hand, and leadership, persuasion, and influence on the other hand, are legitimacy." The problem of legitimacy has been of longstanding interest to political philosophers because of its manifest significance in securing obedience. The applicator of legitimacy is collective, and the process of application is political. Segments of international society have diffused, fragmented and multiple layers of authority patterns. The search for a widely-based, stable regime established by a nationally recognized principle of legitimacy has so far proven fruitless.
