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The role of the Secretary-General, as mandated in the Charter of the United Nations, is to enhance the capacity of the United Nations to maintain peace through the prevention and resolution of international conflict. Based on an in-depth understanding of both the pertinent articles of the Charter and the international reach of the Secretary-General's position, this volume examines and evaluates the diplomatic resources currently available to the Secretary-General in the area of crisis prevention, and recommends measures intended to further define the office's responsibilities and strengthen its preventive powers.
An outline of the legal and political structure of the Secretary-General's authority, followed by a review of each of the five Secretaries-General's efforts with respect to the avoidance of international conflict from 1945 to 1987 presents information which demonstrates the need for improved preventive resources. Reforms instituted by Perez de Cuellar from 1982 to 1987 are applauded and examined in detail, as the study then turns its attention to the present status of the Secretary-General's position. Convinced that the prevention of international conflict will be well-served by increasing the office's direct involvement, Thomas E. Boudreau proposes a global system of conflict identification that will enable the Secretary-General position to fulfill its intended role. A select bibliography, general subject index, and appendixes which include relevant reference materials complete the work.
List of contents
Foreword by James S. Sutterlin
Preface
A Paradoxical PeaceArticle 99: The Option and the Obligation
The Struggle to Know and to Say: Trygve Lie
The Struggle Continues: Dag Hammarskjöld
Thant and Waldheim: The Struggle Ebbs
The Struggle Renewed: Javier Pérez de Cuellar
Reform and RenewalWatchman of the Peace: The Theoretical Stages of the Secretary-General's Preventive Role
Global Watch: Towards a Comprehensive System of Conflict Identification
A Modest Proposal: Improving the Inputs
An Ounce of Prevention: Enhancing Third-Party Intervention
Satellite Diplomacy: An Analysis of UN Communications
A UN Multilateral War Risk Reduction Center
Epilogue: A Preventive Partnership
Appendix I : Chapter XV of the UN Charter
Appendix II: Protecting the Innocent
PRISM Project
Select Bibliography
About the author
THOMAS E. BOUDREAU is an Assistant Professor at The School for Social and Systemic Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is the author of
Sheathing the Sword (Greenwood, 1991).
