Unit 5
Collective Security (2)
We have already had some exposure to the UN response to the first Arab-Israeli war when the state of
Israel was established and all that followed. That’s an extremely important case for understanding the
evolution of traditional collective security and through the various generations of peace operations that
we’ll turn to in the next unit.
The two purely collective security responses are the response to North Korean aggression against the
South and Iraq’s aggression against Kuwait. Obviously, there is a rich literature on both of these events,
much of it oriented on warfighting, and much of it presenting the US perspective. We’ll read articles this
week that provide the UN perspective.
What makes these classic collective security is that one state aggressed against another and the
international community responded collectively through the UN. In both cases, the status quo ante was
reestablished. The Cold War prevented more collective responses due to the deadlock in the Security
Council. In fact, only a fluke allowed the Security Council to authorize the UN response to the Korean
Conflict. Repelling Iraq’s aggression took place in the post-Cold War era and had the support of both the
US and Russia on the Security Council. In both cases, the UN’s military response was a coalition led by
the United States, with the US military in command, and with the US providing the preponderance of
military forces.
The Padelford article will serve our needs with respect to the Korean War. The Koshy and Salinger
articles were chosen to give different perspectives on the Gulf War. UN operations continued well after
Iraq withdrew from Kuwait, and the Riddell-Dixon article was chosen to focus on post conflict operations.
The Koshy article is short. Start there, then read the other articles on the Gulf War. The Koshy article is
useful for another reason. Step back from the content and look at the structure of the paper. Look for a
clear thesis statement, a conclusion in this case. It is prominently placed. Notice that a series of questions
are asked, they are systematically answered, and the conclusion follows directly. This is a good model for
a term paper or thesis. I’ll attempt to point out other useful models for you to emulate as the course
progresses.
Required Reading

Norman J. Padelford. “The United Nations and Korea: A Political Resume,” International
Organization 5, 4 (November 1951): 685-708.

Ninan Koshy. “The United Nations and the Gulf Crisis,” Economic and Political Weekly 32, 47
(22-28 November 1997): 3011-3020.

Pierre Salinger. “The United States, the United Nations, and the Gulf War,” Middle East Journal
49, 4 (autumn 1995): 595-613.

Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon. “The United Nations after the Gulf War,” International Journal 49, 2 After
the Gulf War (spring 1994): 253-276.
Optional Reading

Search the UN websites for the UN’s view of these operations.
Study Questions

SQ1: Peaceful Resolution of Conflict. Did the UN undertake all authorized measures before
resorting to military force in Korea and Iraq? Identify examples in the readings.

SQ2: Great Powers and the Security Council. Do the readings paint a picture of the great
powers on the Security Council (FDR’s “policemen”) providing the muscle behind a true collective
security system as the Charter framers imagined, or do they paint a picture of the SC merely
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drworley@jhu.edu
providing a stage for the great powers to interact over their own positions of self interest? Is that
good, bad, both, or neither?

SQ3: Sovereignty versus Human Rights. The UN Charter sets up a tension between state
sovereignty and human rights. How were these two UN tenets manifest in the Gulf War and its
aftermath? Who has the most to lose if the UN, led by the great powers on the Security Council,
chooses to intervene for humanitarian reasons?

SQ4: UN Credibility. How did the responses to Korea and Iraq affect UN credibility? What
proposals are made to increase UN credibility? Consider the pros and cons of these proposals.
Who are the winners and losers?
Graded Activities
Go to Discussion Forum and interact with your fellow students over the discussion questions.
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drworley@jhu.edu