Introduction

United Nations is playing a vital role in maintaining peace all around the world since its birth in

1945. It was founded with 51 countries to maintain international peace and security, developing

friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and

human rights. Today there are 193 Member States who can express their views, through the

General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and

committees. It is consists of various among which there are six principal organs: the General

Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); the Security Council (for deciding certain

resolutions for peace and security); the Economic and Social Council (for assisting in

promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (for

providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the International Court of

Justice (the primary judicial organ); and the United Nations Trusteeship Council (which is

currently inactive). Other prominent UN System agencies include the World Health

Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's

Fund (UNICEF).

Although it is best known for its peacekeeping, peace building, conflict prevention and

humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United Nations and its System

(specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a better place.

It also provides aid to sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster

relief, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human

rights, gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social

development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more,

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in order to achieve its goals and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future

generations.

The Security Council is the United Nations' most powerful body, with "primary responsibility for

the maintenance of international peace and security." Five powerful countries sit as "permanent

members" along with ten elected members with two-year terms. Since 1990, the Council has

dramatically increased its activity and it now meets in nearly continuous session. It dispatches

military operations, imposes sanctions, mandates arms inspections, deploys election monitors

and more.

The UN headquarter resides in New York along with further main administrative office at

Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary

contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English,

French, Russian, and Spanish

Collective Security
Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement, regional or global, in which

each state in the system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and agrees to join in

a collective response to threats to, and breaches of, the peace. In other words, Collective security

is one type of coalition building strategy in which a group of nations agree not to attack each

other and to defend each other against an attack from one of the others, if such an attack is

made. The principal is that "an attack against one, is an attack against all." It differs from

"collective defense" which is a coalition of nations which agree to defend its own group against

outside attacks. Thus NATO and the Warsaw Pact were examples of collective defense, while

the UN is an attempt at collective security. Proponents of collective security say it is a much

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more effective approach to security than individual countries trying to act alone, as weaker

countries cannot possibly defend themselves, and countries that try often become involved in

never-ending arms races which actually detract from, rather than enhance, their security over the

long term. In addition, it is argued, collective security arrangements encourage international

cooperation, while balance of power deterrence leads to competition and conflict instead.

Although the UN got bogged down in the superpower conflict during the cold war, now that that

era has ended, many observers expect and hope that the UN will become a much more effective

actor in protecting the security of its members.

Other scholars and diplomats, however, feel the collective security concept is misguided. It is

seen as conceptually muddled (as it is often confused with other similar concepts) and naively

unrealistic. Although they are pledged to defend each other, many countries will refuse to do so,

if such an act is not in their own best interests or is thought to be too risky or expensive. In

addition, it has been argued, collective security arrangements will turn small struggles into large

ones, and prevent the use of alternative (nonviolent) problem solving, relying instead on the

much more costly approach of military confrontation. In addition, there is always a danger,

which alliances formed for the purposes of collective security can also service as a basis for an

aggressive coalition.

In sum, the one-for-all-and-all-for-one idea of collective security is the stunning part which

makes it credible to many states for which they took the initiative to form this sort of alliance. It

is a binding obligation to defend a particular status quo against forceful change. The UN Member

States are under direct protection or governance of UN Security Council in case of offensive

steps taken by any other states member or not.

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Regional Security
Regional security is not a very new concept since it was practiced during medieval age.

However, there was no theoretical explanation or written guideline to these sorts of agreements.

Very recently a theory is introduced by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever in their 2003 work Regions

and Powers: The Structure of International Security named Regional Security Complex

Theory (RSCT).

The concept of regional security complexes covers how security is clustered in geographically

shaped regions. According to this theory, security concerns do not travel well over distances and

threats are therefore most likely to occur in the region. The security of each actor in a region

interacts with the security of the other actors. There is often intense security interdependence

within a region, but not between regions, which is what defines a region and what makes

regional security an interesting area of study. Buffer states sometimes isolate regions, such as

Afghanistan's location between the Middle East and South Asia. Regions should be regarded as

mini systems where all other IR theories can be applied, such as Balance of Power, polarity,

interdependence, alliance systems, etc.

After the Second World War ended, a new type of war was being introduced by the two Giants of

the then world politics. The introduction of Cold War by Soviet Union and USA created the

demand of regional security. As a result various regional organizations formed like The African

Union, The League of Arab States etc.

One of the prominent examples is The Regional Security System (RSS). It is an

international agreement for the defense and security of the eastern Caribbean region. The

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Regional Security System was created out of a need for collective response to security threats,

which were impacting on the stability of the region in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On 29

October 1982 four members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean Statesnamely, Antigua

and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadinessigned a memorandum

of understanding (MOU) with Barbados to provide for "mutual assistance on request". The

signatories agreed to prepare contingency plans and assist one another, on request, in national

emergencies, prevention of smuggling, search and rescue, immigration control, fishery

protection, customs and excise control, maritime policing duties, protection of off-shore

installations, pollution control, national and other disasters and threats to national security. [1]

Saint Kitts and Nevis joined following independence in 1983, and Grenada followed two years

later after Operation Urgent Fury, a combined U.S. and RSS invasion of the country. The MOU

was updated in 1992 and the system acquired juridical status on 5 March 1996 under the Treaty

which was signed at St. Georges, Grenada.

The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European version of regional

security organization. It is destined to ensure peace and security of European Union enlisted

nations. It was formerly known as European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), is a major

element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (EU) and is the

domain of EU policy covering defence and military aspects. The ESDP was the successor of the

European Security and Defence Identity under NATO, but differs in that it falls under the

jurisdiction of the European Union itself, including countries with no ties to NATO.

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Failure of UN Charter
The League of Nations was formed as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the

First World War. People all around the world supported the idea realizing the devastative effect

of war on human civilization. Nonetheless, it failed to promote peace through Collective

Security and World War 2 emerged only after 20 years later. As soon as the Second World War

ended, world leader thought of new organization with more power which will be capable of

taking effective measures to maintain world peace. Thus the idea of forming another Collective

Security organization comes into play and the formation of United Nations took place. It has

taken some effective effort to minimize war and war like situations which results in peace.

Since 1945, the United Nations has been credited with negotiating 172 peaceful settlements that

have ended regional conflicts. Recent cases include an end to the Iran-Iraq war, the withdrawal

of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, and an end to the civil war in El Salvador. The United

Nations has used quiet diplomacy to avert imminent wars.

However, the opposite scenario is seen during the recent past. In 1945 United Nations Charter

has the following pre-amble.

To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has

brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human

person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

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 To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from

treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and

To promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom

UN failed to promote this goal in recent years. Increasingly, wars are fought in precisely those

countries that can least afford them. Of more than 150 major conflicts since the Second World

War, 130 have been fought in the developing world.

The per capita gross national product (GNP) of war-torn countries in 1994 included:

Afghanistan (US$280), Angola ($700), Cambodia ($200), Georgia ($580), Liberia

($450), Mozambique ($80), Somalia ($120), Sri Lanka ($640), and the Sudan ($480).

Since the 1950s, more wars have started than have stopped.
By the end of 1995, wars had been running in Afghanistan for 17 years, Angola, 30;

Liberia, 6; Somalia, 7; Sri Lanka, 11; Sudan, 12.

The global case-load of refugees and displaced persons is growing at alarming speed. The

number of refugees from armed conflicts worldwide increased from 2.4 million in 1974

to more than 27.4 million today, the report notes, with another 30 million people

displaced within their own countries. Children and women make up an estimated 80 per

cent of displaced populations.

In 6 out of 12 country studies prepared for a research report shows that the arrival of

peace-keeping troops has been associated with a rapid rise in child prostitution.

Not only this, according to the UN entry on Wikipedia the main issue is the UNs

intergovernmental and thats 192 governments with different agendas nature, which defies its

consensus-based logic. The UN itself published and acknowledged its two biggest blunders:

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Rwanda (1994) and Srebrenica (1995). UN peacekeepers in Rwanda stood by as Hutu

slaughtered some 800,000 Tutsi. In Bosnia, the UN declared safe areas for Muslims but did

nothing to secure them, letting the Serbs slaughter thousands in Srebrenica.

During the Iraq Circes in 2003, it became clear that the grand attempt to subject the use of force

to the rule of law had failed. The objection of Bush administration against Iraq on Weapon of

Mass Destruction (WMD) was not true and yet again UN Security Council failed to stop USA

from invading Iraq. President George W. Bush, to the surprise of many, brought his case against

Iraq to the General Assembly and challenged the UN to take action against Baghdad for failing to

disarm. "We will work with the UN Security Council for the necessary resolutions," Bush said.

But he warned that he would act alone if the UN failed to cooperate. Washington's threat was

reaffirmed a month later by Congress, when it gave Bush the authority to use force against Iraq

without getting approval from the UN first. The American message seemed clear: as a senior

administration official put it at the time, "we don't need the Security Council.

Some of the main reasons why states lost their faith on UN Charter are:

UN voice re Hungary and Czechoslovakia was ignored by the Soviet Union in 1950s.

No emphatic role/inefficiency/late action in crisis of worst kinds such as Sierra

Leone, Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, Soviet military occupation of

Afghanistan, the US-sponsored Islamic Jehad via Pakistan on Afghanistan against the

Soviets, the three Gulf Wars and the wars leading to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Number of nuclear powers (and their nuclear activities) has been increasing despite UNs

and its nuclear watchdog IAEAs best efforts. Notably, Chinas assistance in development

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 of nuclear weapons and its supply of nuclear capable missiles and missile technology to

Pakistan, assistance in building up of DPRKs long-range and nuclear capable missiles,

and finally, Pakistans supply of nuclear weapons technology to DPRK.

Iraq (American intervention was bereft of a UN SC mandate) and Afghanistan have large

contingents of UN peacekeepers yet the situation has become worse despite or

perhaps because of their arrival and inefficient operations.

Inability to resolve/mediate in politically unstable or conflicting situations diplomatically.

Inability to define, grasp the scope of and resolve the war on terrorism.

All these factors played a vital role to form many regional security organizations along with

other co-operative organizations. Some of the renowned organizations are:

The African Union

The Commonwealth
The European Union (EU)
The League of Arab States
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
The East African Community
The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

Some of the agreements are:

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 Iran, Pakistan sign security agreement-2013

DPRK-Mongolia Public Security agreement-2012

Indo-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement-2012
Kenya-Ethiopia regional security cooperation-2012
U.S., Mexico, Canada Enter Into Nuclear Security Agreement-2012
Kosovo- Albania Agreements on classified information enhance regional security-2012
Bahrain , Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE joined the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI)-

2008
U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation-2007
Cuba-Venezuela Security Treaty-2005
Saudi - Iran sign security agreement-2001
Lebanon-Syria Defence and Security Agreement 1-1991
Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance-1961
China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand agree to secure Mekong River-2011

Conclusion
The United Nations Security Council has failed to bring an end to the spiraling conflict

in Syria, the UNs human rights chief said on Monday, 23 Feb 2013. It has made clear the

effectiveness of UN on conflict resolving. United Nations served the world for 68 years with

both hard power and soft power. However, it is less effective these days due to changed world

politics. The Security Council is clearly problematic and not in some aesthetic or theoretical, but

in a manner that caused and causes suffering, death and abuse in many corners of the world, the

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very opposite of their claimed objectives. A report revealed by the Amnesty Internationals said,

Failure of Leadership Rendering U.N. Security Council Irrelevant. Therefore, states lost trust

on UN over the security issues. As a result, new-micro organizations are emerging to ensure

security for various states based on regional co-operation and defensive measures.

References

http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_security

http://dspace.unijos.edu.ng/handle/10485/1551

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=957932

http://www.review.upeace.org/index.cfm?opcion=0&ejemplar=7&entrada=68

http://www.answers.com/topic/collective-security-2

http://www.dadalos.org/uno_int/grundkurs_5/frieden.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_and_Prosperity_Partnership_of_North_America

http://www.franceonu.org/france-at-the-united-nations/thematic-files/peace-and-security/role-of-

regional-organisations-in/france-at-the-united-nations/thematic-files/peace-and-security/role-of-

regional-organisations-in/article/role-of-regional-organizations-in

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1.197211

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