The Security Council as Global Legislator

This book seeks to move away from the discussions of whether the Security Council —in its current composition and working methods—is representative, capable, or productive – as such issues are already extensively debated in other forums. Rather the book seeks to assess whether the specific legislative activity by the Security Council as such, in principle, can be beneficial to international peace and security. If instead of waiting for ‘threats to the peace’ to emerge from country-specific situations (where permanent members can also be biased and use veto) the Security Council is addressing generic international threats—such as terrorism, weapons proliferation, targeting of civilians, recruitment of child soldiers, piracy etc.—can this be instrumental in adding a preventive and standard-setting framework to the Security Council’s more traditional roles for the maintenance of international peace and security?

Security Council resolutions have undergone an important evolution over the last two decades. While continuing its traditional role of determining state-specific threats to peace and engaging accordingly in various peaceful or coercive measures, the Security Council has also adopted resolutions that have effectively imposed legal obligations on all United Nations member states.

This book seeks to move away from the discussions of whether the Security Council – in the current composition and working methods – is representative, capable or productive. Rather it assesses whether legislative activity by the Security Council can be beneficial to international peace and security. The authors examine and critique the capacities of the Security Council to address thematic international threats - such as terrorism, weapons proliferations, targeting of civilians, recruitment of child soldiers, piracy – as an alternative to the traditional model of addressing country-specific situations on a case-by-case basis. Ultimately, the book seeks to assess the efficacy of the Security Council as global legislator in terms of complementing the Security Council’s mandate for the maintenance of international peace and security with a preventative and norm-setting capacity.

The book presents views from a diverse range of Security Council stakeholders including academic scholars, political analysts, and international lawyers. This resource will be of great interest to students of international relations, international organizations and international security studies alike.