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2. Necessity and Possibility of Sending UN Peacekeeping Troops
The UN Charter designs two principal mechanisms for the maintenance of international peace and security and specifies in Chapters 6 and 7 that disputes may be resolved through peaceful means and coercive operations. When conflicts, whether internal or interstate, have a tendency to escalate to a large-scale war or endanger the regional or even international peace and security, the UN Security Council has the right to pass resolutions to create peacekeeping operations. According to Article 39 of the UN Charter, the Security Council “shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression and shall make recommendations or decide what measures shall be taken …to maintain or restore international peace and security.” According to Article 42, if these measures cannot effectively prevent the breach of peace or aggression, the Security Council “may take such action by air, sea, or land as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security.” (The UN Charter)
Article 99 states that “The Secretary General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” (The UN Charter) The Secretary General is playing an increasingly assertive role in peacekeeping operations. He can help the Security Council to accommodate and reach agreement as to peacekeeping operations. He may ask member states to provide troops and material once a peacekeeping operation is authorized. Article 43 authorizes the Security Council to acquire commitments from member states, usually neutral countries that have little or no stake in the outcome of the conflict, to contribute troops to carry out its decisions.
Furthermore, acquisition of consent of the host country is also a precondition for the deployment of the UN peacekeeping troops, which may minimize the possibility of abuse of the peacekeeping operation by major powers as an excuse for their interference in other countries’ internal affairs. (Ratner 1995, p97)
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