Madelyn Gee for Aljazeera

United Nations Security Council: A Question Of Intervention

by Madelyn Gee

The United Nations Security Council, as stated within the United Nations Charter, is tasked with protecting and promoting the establishment of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources. The UNSC Committee  is in the beginnings of elucidating what constitutes an 'intervention’ (defined as taking action in order to protect the safety and well-being of nations around the globe), should a need for such a response arise. Delegates of this particular committee are divided upon the issue. Some argue that any country in dire need of some sort of aid, be it economic, diplomatic, militaristic, or humanitarian, requires an immediate and justifiable response. Others support the belief that it could potentially be an infringement of pre-existing national liberties to take immediate and potentially rash action. Countries that are proponents of the need to define specifics of what constitutes intervention may not consider an intervention to be a necessity, and may consider a response from the United Nations to be unwarranted.

When interviewed, delegations took various stances on what constitutes an intervention. The delegation of Korea stated that an intervention was offering support and resources to any country that requires assistance. France asserted that acts of intervention must include the need for the Security Council to institute a series of sanctions regarding peace keeping, adequate military response, and aid to nations that express a requisite for help. On the other hand, the delegation of Luxembourg promoted the concept of a lack of definition for interventions, citing that the defining of the word meant that it would limit the amount of response the Security Council could offer to countries. The delegate from the United States insisted that the Council maintain what was outlined in the Charter of the United Nations itself in order to ensure that the UN does not infringe upon the national sovereignty of a country when considering an intervention. Finally, the United Kingdom delegation offered that an intervention is simply comprised of any sort of action to help people within a nation who cannot access the resources to help themselves. All of the delegations, however, agreed that it is necessary to develop a proper means of response to assist countries who require the resources of the United Nations.