The United Nations and the African Union: Assessing a partnership for peace in Darfur

In Resolution 1556, the Security Council, with the conflict in Darfur clearly in mind, determined that the ‘situation in Sudan constitutes a threat to international peace and security and to stability in the region’. This article focuses on the response by the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, and the African Union to the Darfur conflict. It begins by exploring the role of peacekeeping operations and regional arrangements or agencies in the overarching architecture of international peace and security. Having laid this frame of reference, it then looks at the modalities of peacekeeping in Darfur. These operations began with the African Union acting in isolation but have transitioned to an increasingly important role being played by the United Nations and a hybrid peacekeeping presence. Finally, this article asks whether, assuming that a legally dispositive conclusion can be drawn that genocide has taken place in Darfur since the outbreak of hostilities there in 2003, there exists a legal justification, or even obligation, for non-compliance by states with the sanctions regime established by Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591. This regime of sanctions has played an important part in the Security Council's approach to Darfur but has been, unfortunately, left largely unexamined from the standpoint of international legality.

The future of the United Nations

TOPICS
The purpose of the UN
The methods the UN uses to promote international security
The problems with UN efforts to promote peace
UN reform
Future dynamics of the UN

Australia and the United Nations

Australia and the United Nations traces how Australia committed itself to the United Nations project, from before the convening of the first United Nations Security Council until the eve of its election to a fifth term on that body.

Beyond reaction: the responsibility to protect and the United Nations

This thesis examines how the principle of The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has influenced international responses to large scale human suffering. Examining atrocities in Darfur and Libya, this examination finds that rather than occupy ends of a spectrum of choice between prevention and reaction, responses elicited by R2P were fluid.

How does the cookie crumble? legal costs under a uniform interpretation of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

A family owned Mexican company, Zapata Hermanos Sucesores, S.A. ("Zapata"), sold approximately US$950,000 worth of cookie tins over a period of four years to the Maurice Lenell Cooky Company ("Lenell"), an American company that produced baked goods. Lenell failed to pay Zapata for the cookie tins so Zapata sought legal advice and instituted legal proceedings against Lenell for breach of contract in the Federal District Court of Illinios. The cookie tin sale contracts were governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods ("CISG"). Zapata succeeded in its Federal District Court claim and, as part of the Court's order, was awarded US$550,000 as foreseeable loss under Article 74 of the CISG, being the amount of legal fees incurred by Zapata in bringing proceedings against Lenell. On appeal to the Federal Appellate Court, however, the award of legal fees was overturned. The parties now find themselves contesting a leave application to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States of America in a much anticipated debate over who should pay the lawyers.

Harmonisation and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

After many years of negotiation, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”) came into force in 1988. Today, 62 states have adopted the CISG. Together these countries account for over two-thirds of all world trade.2 On this basis alone, the CISG is an outstanding success in the legal harmonisation of the law governing the international sale of goods. However, the CISG has its critics and much comment has been made on the failure of the CISG to achieve its goal of promoting international trade through a body of uniform rules.The primary motivation driving the push for a harmonised law on the international sale of goods is economic: a harmonised law makes it easier and more efficient for the business person to sell and buy goods across state borders. However, the engine driving the push for harmonisation is political and cultural; and the task of creating the harmonised law belongs to the diplomat.3 A study of the CISG demonstrates that the political and cultural demands on the diplomat also act as shackles that restrain the achievement of a harmonised law.This paper will consider the CISG and discuss the constraints on treaty making as a mechanism for legal harmonisation. Part one discusses the constraints faced when creating a uniform text.Part two discusses the problems with the text of the CISG that result from the negotiation process. Finally, part three discusses the constraints faced in maintaining the uniformity of the CISG.

The global context and the renewal of the United Nations = El contexto global y la renovación de Naciones Unidas

Introducción En esta época posterior a la guerra fría y de creciente globalización, el rol de las Naciones Unidas experimenta constantes redefiniciones y desafíos. El señor Kofi Annan, Secretario General, afirmó que las Naciones Unidas se encuentran hoy en una encrucijada, y que el momento es tan trascendente como lo fue el de su fundación, hace sesenta años. Aunque los principios fundamentales de la democracia, los derechos humanos y el estado de derecho siguen siendo universalmente aceptados y se consideran piedra angular del orden mundial, el Secretario General considera, como otros muchos, que ha llegado el momento de rediseñar su estructura básica para combinar el imperativo de la acción con la necesidad de legitimidad". En este contexto, durante la visita oficial del Secretario General a Chile en noviembre del 2003, la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) fue anfitriona de la mesa redonda "El contexto global y la renovación de las Naciones Unidas", en la que participaron la señora Tarja Halonen, Presidenta de la República de Finlandia, el señor Ricardo Lagos, Presidente de la República de Chile, y el señor Annan. Entre los invitados a este acto se encontraban miembros del cuerpo diplomático en Santiago de Chile, destacados intelectuales, representantes de la sociedad civil y académicos que enriquecieron el debate con preguntas y comentarios. Los tres líderes analizaron la situación política, económica y social del mundo de hoy en el contexto del actual proceso de reforma de las Naciones Unidas. Disertaron sobre los desafíos del desarrollo, el multilateralismo, la interdependencia de los países y su necesidad de contar con una participación ciudadana creciente y coherente en los planos local, regional y mundial. Uno de los temas centrales fue el poder, y el modo en que las Naciones Unidas pueden canalizarlo y redistribuirlo con el fin de que su ejercicio sea colectivo y civilizado. Aunque es imposible resolver en una mañana o en una sola reunión estos complejos asuntos, que en ocasiones resultan abrumadores, tenemos la esperanza de que este libro proporcione inspiración, conceptos e ideas que permitan alcanzar soluciones eficaces e innovadoras en el futuro. José Luis Machinea Secretario Ejecutivo CEPAL"