Description
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has faced many criticisms, but rarely have its critics drawn on both anarchism and pacifism to articulate a rigorous anarcho-pacifist critique of its design, track record and broader impact. Yet this theoretical angle – whose roots lay in the same fertile nineteenth-century context from which discussions about collective security grew to eventually lead to the founding of the United Nations – holds the potential to develop critical reflections that go further and deeper than those informed by prevalent International Relations theories. Firstly, with an eye on political outcomes, an anarcho-pacifist critique draws attention to those non-state interests, industries and constituencies that benefit, and those that are ignored, by the UNSC’s operation; denounces the ongoing and growing arms trade in which UNSC permanent members actively engage; and considers the role of the UNSC in not only maintaining but also helping legitimise a status quo that brings conflict and insecurity to many. Secondly, turning to concerns about warism and militarism, an anarcho-pacifist analysis critically reconsiders dominant assumptions about the need for potentially violent enforcement mechanisms to preserve peace and security; and argues that the impulse for constant military preparedness feeds the destabilising forces of militarism. And thirdly, with regards to broader political aims, an anarcho-pacifist critique contends that sustainable peace and security require socio-economic justice and not just attention to conflict and insecurity; and concludes that the very foundations of the Westphalian international order have to be reconsidered for the UNSC’s mission of safeguarding peace and security to have a chance of being fulfilled.
