Since the end of the Cold War, the scope of authority exercised by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter has vastly expanded. The Council has not only asserted the right to intervene in a wide variety of ongoing armed conflicts, but also to take proactive measures to prevent conflicts or mitigate the effects of conflicts that have already occurred. Although many have asserted that the UN’s effectiveness and legitimacy have eroded, the Council continues to use its expanded authority in new ways to deal with emerging conflicts and threats to peace.

All this raises a number of questions. What is the legal basis for the Council’s new scope of action? Has this expanded authority been used wisely and effectively? Are there other ways in which the Council can or should be acting more assertively? How should the Council’s authority be reconciled with the sovereignty of UN member states?

Convened to mark the release of Michael Matheson’s book Council Unbound: The Growth of UN Decision Making on Conflict and Postconflict Issues after the Cold War, this panel evaluates the Council’s expanded legal authority from various perspectives.

Speakers

• Michael J. Matheson
  Member of the International Law Faculty, George Washington University School of Law
  Former Deputy Legal Advisor and Acting Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of State
• Ruth Wedgwood
  Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy
  SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
• Amb. Jacques Klein
  Member of the Public and International Affairs Faculty, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
  Former Chief of UN Operations in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Liberia
• Lynn Tesser, Moderator
  Program Officer, U.S. Institute of Peace

Archived Audio

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