THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL’S ROLE IN RESOLVING THE IRAQKUWAIT CRISIS 1990-1991

THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL’S ROLE IN RESOLVING THE IRAQKUWAIT CRISIS 1990-1991

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The United Nations (U.N) is an international organization that was established just right after the Second world war where by the Allied forces defeated the Axis powers. The UN as it is generally called was established to bring a new beginning and shape to global politics after the ruins of the second world war. One must also put into account that the United Nations is established based on the mantle of the failed League Of Nations established after the first world war put failed to achieve it aims and objectives of establishment which led to the break out of the Second world war. The name "United Nation" was devised by United state former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was first used in the "Declaration by United Nations" of 1st January 1942 , during the Second world war when representatives of the 26 nations pledged their government to continue fighting together against Axis Power. The UN charter was drawn up by the representatives of the 50 countries at the conference on International Organization which met in San Francisco from 25th April to 26 June, this was in connection to the proposal drawn up in the United states at Dumbarton Oaks in August -October 1944 by China , Soviet Union , United Kingdom and the United states. All theses became official and generally accepted by 24th October 1945 when all the concerned states had ratified the UN charter (The American Forum For Global Education (2010)). With the initial member state of 51 (Poland which was not present at the first signing stage was later allowed to sign making it 51) ,the UN has grown over the years from 51 to 189 member state as at 2001. The UN is accompanied by some structures which see to the carrying out of it activities across the globe ; the general assembly which is equally represented by all member states with equal vote , the secretariat headed by the UN general secretary :" the UN secretariat has matured into a competent international bureaucracy much larger and more complex than anticipated in 1945; the secretary-general once considered to be an administrator has become major world leader"( Jean E. Kranso; 2001), the UN economic and social council called ECOSOC in charge of the special institutions and agencies and deals with the economic and social issues that arises around the globe , the dormant Trusteeship council which was essential in the fight for global independent from colonial rule, also is the international court of justice to maintain checks and balances to all UN resolutions and our main concern the Security Council which is one of the most powerful council of the UN and in the world. The United Nation is aimed at " the mission to maintain world peace , develop good relations between countries, promote cooperation in solving the world's problems and encourage a respect for human rights" (Student Handout : Background On The United Nations). With this mission statement the UN has achieved the aim of 191 member state as of recent days .The UN has its headquarters in New York , United States whereby the territory is considered an international territory with separate flag and entity. The official language of the UN are Arabic , Chinese, English , French ,Russian and Spanish.( Student Handout : Background On The United Nations)

1.1.2 THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

This opens the way into the UN Security council which is a powerful branch of the UN body. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is a principal organ of the UN. As stated in the UN charter of article 24; member states have conferred the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council. This is done on the belief that the body is adequate or equipped enough to carry out its resolution on its behalf. All members states of the United Nations have agreed to accept and carry out decision and policies made by the Security Council as stated in Article 25 of the UN charter. In relation to this other organs of the UN can only make recommendations to the government except the General Assembly but on the other hand the UNSC is the only organ powerful enough to issue resolution that is binding on all members. Some of its objectives of the United Nations security council are the recommendation of peaceful means to the agreement of peace negotiation; appointment of special representative or ask the General-Secretary to appoint special representative and set some principles; among others is the issuing of ceasefire; sending troops for peace keeping missions also accompanied with these is the recommendation to the General Assembly and it Secretary -General the admission of new members and with the help of the Assembly the appointment of personnel's to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)( Sahar Okhovat ; 2011). The UNSC has 15 member states out of which 5 are permanent members given veto power; although it should be taken into account that the UN initially had 11 member as at it creation. "The charter has proven to be a flexible instrument only amended three times to enlarge the Security Council from its original 11 members to 15".( Student Handout ; Background on the United Nations)

The 5 permanent members with veto powers are the; The Peoples' Republic of China , France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States, all other 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly of Majority vote with a two years tenure. The non-permanent members are elected from all the regions to accommodate equal representation.( Sahar, Okhovat; 2011)

The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is rotated among members equally in alphabetical order of appointment whereby the position is held for one month. The president is given some responsibility of being the spokes man of the council among other things . "Article 27 of the charter gives the Security Council affirmative member agreement of 9 out of 15 and decisions on substantive matters are made by affirmative votes of the 9 members including that of the permanent members. This is the clause that gives the permanent FIVE (i.e. USA , United Kingdom, Russia, France and China ) their Veto power". This has caused a great outcry that the UNSC is an undemocratic unit of the United Nations whereby non-permanent members are left with little or no power but just the ability to follow the Veto decisions of the BIG 5 i.e. the permanent members. Accordingly , this has caused a major test in military ability of both the UNSC and the erring members or nation who see the resolutions issued as undemocratic or most time absurd. According to Robert Hill (former Australian ambassador to the United Nations) " Security Council is a club and P5 is a club within a club".(Transcript of Interview with Robert Hill , June 2011)

But overall the United Nations Security Council has made some major achievements is some areas of the World in the maintenance of international peace and security. Some of its Resolutions has brought Peace and Order to war torn zones or political unrest or racial discrimination across the Globe. Some of this crisis is the Apartheid regime in South Africa , Political Unrest in the middle east, Genocide events in some part of Africa like Rwanda and Sierra Leone and the like . It has also help in the war against Terrorism most especially in the Middle -Eastern region . The UNSC has also helped weak state to gain forceful independence and also the evacuation of unlawful annexation or occupation of sovereign territories which brings us to the IRAQ-KUWAIT gulf crisis of 1990-1991 where the United Nation Security council made some major Resolution to effectively evacuate Iraq from the territories of Kuwait. 1.1.3 THE IRAQ-KUWAIT CRISIS (1990-1991)

The Gulf War which took place from August 2, 1990 to February 28, 1991 between IRAQ and KUWAIT can majorly be attributed to the Economic and Political issues that featured in the Government of some middle-eastern countries. A very good example is the case of Iraq under the presidency of Saddam Hussein who felt Kuwait was siphoning its own natural resources (Crude Oil) as to regard of the claim by Hussein that this Oil was coming from the Ar-Rumaylah which was a shared border territory between Iraq and Kuwait. Hussein also went further with accusing Kuwait of allying themselves with the western powers so as to bring downfall to his regime in Iraq. Before all these came into light Iraq was already in another crisis with Iran which was also a Political as much as Economic crisis. A cease fire was established between Iraq and Iran by the UN Security Council in 1988 with the vision of tabling their matter and having a neutral discussion or negotiation. Later on during the mid-1990 precisely August, Hussein saw no use for the negotiation and tried to go against any act of negotiating. However almost two weeks later Hussein gave a speech accusing Kuwait of siphoning Oil and alliance with the Western powers. He also insisted " that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia should cancel out the $30 billion of Iraq's foreign debt and accused them of conspiring to keep Oil prices low in an effort to pander to Western Oil buying Nations".( www.history.com/topics/persian-gulf-war/Iraq-Kuwait)

Subsequently, Hussein gave an order to his army to invade and annex Kuwait claiming that it initially a part of the Iraq territories and that Iraq had the right to invade and annex. With the series of event and negotiation that occurred from August 1990-Februray 1991 , the UN Security Council was called to help so also was NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization) called to intervene on behalf of Kuwait. The UN Security Council as early as August 3, 1990 called for the immediate withdrawal of Iraq from Kuwait. The UN Security Council made many resolution starting from the beginning year of the war to the end . Some of it was the declaration on November 29 , 1990 whereby the UNSC authorized the use of "all necessary means" against Iraq".(www.history.com/topics/persian-gulf-war/Iraq-Kuwait). Also there series of resolution declared by the UNSC, these are UN RES 687,688 &689 all issued concurrently from on April 3rd , 5th and 9th 1991.( S/RES/688 (1991) 5 April 1991). All these were done to bring about a peaceful co-existence between Iraq and Kuwait and prevent future crisis.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As established above the outbreak of the Gulf war can be attributed to the Economic and Political issues that plagued the Middle-Eastern countries. With a view on this one must be able to really differentiate what essential issues forced Hussein hand to invade and annex Kuwait and Why he was successful in His yarn for power in the middle-east. Another issue that should be looked at is the mind set or the behavioral analysis or psychology of the then Iraq President - Saddam Hussein who felt the invasion of Kuwait would be supported by fellow Middle-eastern Countries.

In a critical analysis of the Economic issue it can be seen that Hussein was very wary and afraid of the Economic development of Kuwait who is just a very small faction in comparison to Iraq. A general overview of the landscape and territories of Kuwait show that its only small state compared to Iraq, on the other hand Iraq was a big state in the middle-east and among the Arab states. With this in mind it was unthinkable for a big country like Iraq to depend on Kuwait for Crude Oil and as far as owing $30 billion to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.( www.History.com/topics/persian-gulf-war/Iraq-Kuwait). From this it could be seen that Hussein was frustrated at being at the mercy of Kuwait in terms of Economy and being Economically inferior to a small state like Kuwait. On another level which is that of the Political level, Hussein was a paranoid human being surrounded or neighbor to allies of the Western country most especially United State of America (USA) was had a strong ties with Saudi Arabia who is a strong ally of the Kuwait Government. Hussein accused them of partnering up with the Western Powers to steal Crude Oil among the rest of accusation. Many believe this made him ; Hussein break off peace negotiation organized by the President of Egypt Mubarak just two hours into negotiation with his mind set on War ( Modern Conflicts: Iraq - Kuwait ;1990-1991).This made him immediately order the invasion of Kuwait on the 2nd of August 1990.

A psychological appraisal should also be done in the analysis of the behavior of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Due to the fact that he was a paranoid man and a very insecure person he saw the Kuwait allegiance to the Western Power as a plot to remove him from power and topple his Government. In his own wary mind he also believed that the rest of the Arab State were strongly behind him but this was wrong because 21 member of the Arab league condemned Iraqis' act of aggression. This made the King of Saudi Arabia turn to USA and NATO and the United Nation Security Council for help. After the UNSC called for Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait on 3rd of August 1990 , King Fahd of Saudi Arabia met with the U.S secretary of Defense Richard Chenny to request for military assistance.(www.History.com/topics/persian-gulf-war/Iraq-Kuwait).

Overall it can be established that the Gulf War crisis came about due to the Political and Economical fears of Hussein and also bearing in mind his Psychological instability.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

The purpose of writing this topic shall be vied or analyzed through the eyes or lane of these research objectives. These are ;

1) To examine the role the United Nation Security Council played in the resolution of the Gulf war crisis of 1990-1991

2) To critically analyze the effectiveness of the UNSC resolutions on the Iraq-Kuwait war and how it helped to an end to the war

3) To examine the challenges that hindered the effectiveness of the UNSC resolution on the aftermath of the war ( Iraq-Kuwait 1990-1991).

4) To examine the remote and immediate causes of the war and how it affected the national and regional balance of power in the Middle-East.

TOPIC: THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL’S ROLE IN RESOLVING THE IRAQKUWAIT CRISIS 1990-1991

Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email

Number of Pages: 75

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