The document discusses the relevance of the United Nations (UN) in resolving armed conflicts. It provides background on the UN's origins and mechanisms for conflict resolution, including peacekeeping operations. Over time, the nature and scope of UN peacekeeping has expanded significantly to take on new challenges like monitoring elections and protecting civilians. However, this has introduced pitfalls like downgrading the requirement of consent. The document suggests reforms are needed to update the UN's conflict resolution system for the current geopolitical context, including restructuring the Security Council and establishing a permanent UN armed force. Overall, it argues that while the UN remains important for conflict settlement, a more proactive focus on conflict prevention is preferable.

1. RELEVENCE OF UN IN RESOLVING ARMED CONFLICT
INTRODUCTION
1. The United Nations was borne after WWI primarily to facilitate amicable
resolution of inter-state armed conflicts. Since the birth of the UN, over the last 60 years
or so, the nature of inter and intra-state conflicts has undergone a paradigm change. The
support and paramount position, which the UN used to enjoy, has also eroded. Due to the
end of cold war and collapse of communist empire, some nations are pursuing
interventionist policies outside the ambit of the UN. Under these circumstances to study
the relevance of UN in resolving armed conflict in present world order, one must study
the theories of armed conflict management alongwith the UN conflict resolution
mechanism.
ARMED CONFLICT
Definition
2. Conflict has been defined as 'striking together, shock or fight/ an encounter with
arms' as per Oxford English Dictionary. The word conflict traces its origins in the Latin
word Conflictus, which was used in 15-16 centuries to describe violent clashes.
Structure
3. Conflict is a situation in which two or more parties desire goals, which they
perceive as being obtainable by one or the other but not by both. Hence, for a conflict
situation to exist there must be at least two parties each mobilising energy to obtain a
goal, a desired object or situation and each party perceives the other as a barrier or threat
to that goal.
4. 4. There are three basic ingredients of conflict. These are :-
(a) A situation of incompatible goals.
(b) A range of psychological attitudes practiced by involved parties.
(c) A set of related behaviors used to achieve the desired goals.
5. Conflict Triangle. The structure of conflict can be depicted in a triangle
having 'Situation', 'Attitude' and 'Behavior' as its three sides.

2. 6. Conflict Management Techniques.
(a) Conflict Prevention. Ensures that no conflict situation leads to undesired
form of conflict behavior.
(b) Conflict Settlement. Third party aims at modifying conflict behavior and
reaching some compromise settlement.
(c) Conflict Resolution. Third party aims to modify all three aspects
(situation, attitudes and behavior) to produce a self-supporting settlement.
7. Spectrum of Conflict. The spectrum of conflict can be depicted in a
graphical form starting from peace and ending into the destructive nuclear war.
8. Results of Armed Conflict. Any armed conflict will result in any one of the
following results :-
(a) Victory for one party with all goals achieved and defeat for other.
(b) Destruction of one party, or incorporation of its remnants in other entity,
Probably the victor.
(c) Isolation, withdrawal or disengagement, whereby conflict behavior is
suspended and interaction between parties cease.
(d) Settlement or accommodation, whereby some compromise solution is
achieved
by splitting the differences and allowing both parties to achieve some of their
objectives, even if on unequal basis.
(e) Resolution, whereby the sources of conflict situation itself are removed,
rather than behavioral or attitudinal components. Both parties achieve mutual
gains or new range of benefits.
UNITED NATIONS
9. Birth. The United Nations ( UN ) came into being on 25 Jun 1945 and its charter
came in force on 25 Oct 1945. This charter was based on the principle of victorious
wartime powers ruling the peace.

3. UN Mechanism of Conflict Resolution
10. The General Assembly. It is the principle organ with representation from
all member states. It considers any matter referred to it pertaining to promotion of
international cooperation, disarmament, trusteeship and human rights.
11. The Security Council. It consists of five permanent member states and ten
non-permanent members. The majority required for taking a decision is 9 out of 15, with
five permanent members having 'veto' power. The Security Council has a unique
authority to investigate any conflict or situation, which threatens international peace and
security. It is the only organisation in the world that conveys legal authority for the use of
force or intervention against a sovereign state.
12. UN Charter. The two chapters of UN charter most relevant to conflict related
UN operations are :-
(a) Chapter VI. Provides for specific settlement of disputes by a variety of
peaceful means including negotiations, enquiry, mediation, conciliation,
arbitration or judicial settlement.
(b) Chapter VII. It is essentially coercive in nature and designed to deal with
threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression perpetrated by
sovereign states. Through this chapter, the UN Security Council is empowered to
investigate alleged violations and then determine measures to be taken against
concerned states, including political or economic pressures and the use of force.
13. Types of UN Operations.
(a) Peacekeeping. These operations are initiated with the consent of
involved parties and seek to settle disputes through the medium of peaceful third
party initiatives. These are often proved to be valuable techniques for facilitation
of peace accords and agreements post-conflict. These are carried out under
chapter VI of UN charter.
(b) Peace-enforcement. These are operations authorised for partial or
impartial enforcement of peace and are carried out under chapter VII of UN
charter.
UN AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
14. Background. Having seen the conflict resolution mechanisms at work in UN, it
would be interesting to study the role played by UN since its inception in general and
over the last decade or so in particular. The role of UN has revolved around conflict

4. settlement by using coercive methods through Security Council. In a few instances, the
General-Secretary has used his good offices to act as intermediary to reach amicable
conflict resolution. The present concepts of conflict resolution by UN are through
peacekeeping or peace-enforcement. Due to changed world order, over the last decade or
so many tested principles of UN peacekeeping operations have to be modified as the
range of conflicts around the world exceed the UN capability to address them. To add to
the woes, some states have imposed preconditions on their participation in the UN
operations and some have even refused financial contribution to UN.
Features of UNPKO Till 1987
14. The peacekeeping operations were not foreseen in the UN charter, but emerged
in
response to the problems. The precise charter basis for UNPK operations remained
ambiguous for decades. PKO was often referred to as ' an chapter six and a half ' activity.
15. Tasks. Tasks undertaken by UNPK forces during this period were as follows :-
(a) (a) Monitoring and enforcement of cease-fires.
(b) (b) Observing frontier lines.
(c) (c) Interposing between the belligerents.
16. Principles of Operations. The operations were carried out based on following
principles :-
(a) (a) Consent of involved parties.
(b) (b) Impartiality of peacekeepers.
(c) (c) Non-use of force in most circumstances.
17. Problems. Out of the 13 Operations set up, more than half consisted of
unarmed UN military observers. Certain problems faced by these operations are as
follows :-
(a) (a) The weakness of depending on consent was cruelly exposed by
expulsion of
UN Emergency Force (UNEF I) from Egypt in 1967 and subsequent outbreak of
war between Israel and Arab states.
(b) (b) Sometimes the conflict situation lead UNPK forces to unforeseen
tasks clashing

5. with three stated principles. This was seen in Congo in 1960-64, when tasks of
UN forces included maintenance of government and public order using military
force.
(c) (c) Mere presence of UN forces could not prevent conflict as was
seen in Cyprus
in 1974 and Lebanon in 1982.
18. Achievements. The achievements of UNPK operations in this period are as
follows :-
(a) Effective freezing of certain conflicts.
(b) Some reduction of risk or extent of competitive intervention by neighbors
or Superpowers.
(c) Isolation of local wars from East-West conflict.
Features of UN Operations Post 1988
19. As already seen, since 1948 to 1978 only 13 UN operations were set up. Then
from 1978 to 1987 no new forces were setup. All that changed since May 1988 as more
than 25 missions were set up thereafter.
20. Reasons for Expansion of UN Operations. The reasons for expansion of
Operations are as follows :-
(a) Increased capacity of UN Security Council to agree on action in any
crisis. This is evident from non-use of 'veto' by Soviet Union since 29 Feb 84 to
11 May 93.
(b) Widespread mood of optimism that the UN can have a much more central
role in international security and that PK operations can tackle a wide range of
problems.
(c) The end of cold war increased the need for international peacekeeping
forces.
(d) Between 1985-91 a series of regional peace agreements on Afghanistan,
Angola, Namibia and Cambodia created a demand for international PK forces.
(e) The decline and collapse of two former communist-federal states of
Soviet Union and Yugoslavia resulted in new conflicts leading to strong calls for
action under UN auspices.

6. (f) Following the cold war, the major powers were willing to see a response
emerge from UN framework.
21. New Challenges for UN Operations. The enlarged scope threw up some
new challenges for UNPK operations. These are as follows :-
(a) Monitoring and even running of elections as in Namibia, El Salvador,
Angola, Cambodia, Mozambique and Indonesia.
(b) Protecting inhabitants of region, usually minorities from the threat or use
of force including by the Government of that region as in Bosnia and East Timor.
(c) Protecting designated 'Safe Areas', such as in Iraq and Bosnia.
(d) Ensuring partial de-militarisation of specific areas.
(d) Ensuring distribution of humanitarian relief.
(e) Assisting in reconstruction of Govt/police functions after a civil war as
seen in
El Salvador and Cambodia.
(f) Reporting violations of international law by belligerents.
22. Pitfalls. The changed nature, scope and new challenges to the UN
operations have created certain pitfalls. These are as follows :-
(a) Consent. Downgrading the requirement of consent as a prerequisite
for UN operations occurred thrice during 1991-93, leading to the change in the
doctrine. These cases are as follows :-
(i) Crisis in Iraq. The 'safe havens' established in Apr91 for curd
inhabited areas was achieved by US, British and French forces, which
were later replaced by UN Guards. Iraq did not consent to initial incursion
of allied forces.
(ii) Crisis in Former Yugoslavia. Security Council resolution 743 for
setting up 'UNPROFOR' for Yugoslavia on 21Feb92 was a case in point.
While the force was set up with the consent of the belligerent, the
resolution was worded in such a way that it implied the operation would
continue even without the consent of them for ' maintenance of
international peace and unity'.
(iii) Crisis in Somalia. There has been no functioning government
to give consent, hence for the first time Security Council explicitly

7. referred to its powers under chapter VII and decided to establish two
forces in Somalia. These were 'UNITAF' and 'UNISOM'.
(b) Use of Force. In recent times UN forces were compelled by the situations
to use force leading to certain issues. These are as follows :-
(i) Use of force involves killing/injuring civilians as well as the
adversaries, which leads to accusations of brutality.
(ii) Use of force undermines perception of impartiality.
(iii) Certain participating states have reservations on use of force by
their troops.
(c) Selectivity. Elements of selectivity are inherent in the UN operations.
The 'veto' system prevents action to be taken against permanent five members.
Though a Security Council statement of May 94 lists the criterion for establishing
new operation, this is seldom followed in practice and the national
goals/objectives of powerful nations override the involvement of UN in any
conflict.
Suggested Reforms
23. Due to the changed world order over the last decade, there is a need to bring
about reforms in UN conflict management mechanism. Some suggested reforms are as
follows :-
(a) The organisation of Security Council need to be revamped, wherein the
'veto' power should be withdrawn.
(b) A UN central command be set up to monitor and control all UN
operations so as to prevent independent decision making by a few participating
nations.
(c) A situation room be setup at UN HQ for monitoring all operations.
(d) Sufficient measures be built in UN operations to safeguard human rights.
(e) A permanent armed force of UN be setup so as to overcome the problem
of incompatibility in participating forces vis-à-vis language, doctrine, training etc.
(f) Present financing system of UN operations run in arrears due to
perceived unjust share demanded from some states. This need to be streamlined
so as to reduces uncertainty of payment to participating forces.

8. CONCLUSION
24. The changed nature of world order after 188 have forced a rethink in the nature
of approach the UN adopts to resolve armed conflicts. The UN has remained relevant in
resolving armed conflict despite these changes.
25. After the study of the basic conflict management theories it emerges that the
present UN system attempts to settle or manage the conflicts after they take place. This in
part is attributed to the basic principle of 'Victors ruling the peace ' principle on which
the UN system is based. The study of UN organisation dealing with armed conflict
resolution and the UN charter bring out the need of reforms to have exact charter basis
for future UN operations of all kind. The significant facets of UNPK operations till 1987
were the consent of involved parties, impartiality of peacekeepers and mostly non-use of
force. All this has changed in the post cold war era, wherein the scope of UN operations
has widened to a large extent covering diverse tasks such as conducting elections,
performing government functions and policing etc. To prepare the UN organisation to
undertake such tasks effectively, there is a need to carry out reforms in the conflict
resolution mechanism of the UN. These reforms should include reorganisation of
Security Council and amendment of UN charter among others.
26. The steps discussed above would certainly keep the UN away from the criticism
of inefficiency whilst dealing with armed conflicts. But a more pragmatic approach
would be to evolve a UN mechanism, which ensures collective global security through
policy adoption of 'conflict prevention' in place of 'conflict settlement'. Mr Kofi Annan,
the UN General-Secretary has set such a process in motion when he wrote in his
millenium report of 03 Apr 2000 titled 'We the People' that," There is a near universal
agreement that prevention is preferable to cure, and that strategies of prevention must
address the root causes of conflict, and not simply their violent symptoms".