Straw calls for UN re-think on military intervention
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today said the United Nations must re-think the laws on intervening in the affairs of sovereign nations and act more quickly in crises if it is to meet the threats of the twenty-first century.
Speaking to international relations experts at Chatham House in London this afternoon, Mr Straw outlined Britain’s vision for United Nations reform.
He re-affirmed Britain’s support for the UN, saying it was “uniquely fitted” for building long-term global security.
However, it needed to act more quickly to deal with threats to security and human rights, and be prepared to intervene in the affairs of sovereign states. It should also consider allowing more countries to join the Security Council.
Mr Straw said the council had been slow to act on matters such as the crisis in Darfur, saying: “The UN’s member states, not least the members of the Security Council, have to face up to their responsibilities”.
“Despite the warnings from United Nations staff this Spring of looming catastrophe in Darfur, and active efforts by the UK to draw international attention to the situation, it took the Security Council until the end of July to agree a resolution.”
He added that Darfur “demands action both because it is a human tragedy, and because it affects the whole region through the spread of instability and the movement of refugees”.
The Foreign Secretary said the UN needed to consider whether nation states should be allowed to interfere in the affairs of other states if it were deemed necessary to prevent human rights violations.
He conceded this was “perhaps the most sensitive question in the debate about the tools at our disposal”, but added: “It is a discussion which we need to have.”
Mr Straw said all members of the United Nations had accepted some limitation on their sovereignty in the service of collective security. It was not acceptable to classify situations such as that in Darfur as simply the concern of one national government.
He said: “States have the right to non-interference in their internal affairs; but they also have responsibilities, towards their own people, and towards the international community and their international engagements. Where those responsibilities are manifestly ignored or abused, the international community may need to intervene.”
Referring to Britain’s “long-standing” position on reforming the membership of the Security Council, he said: “In pursuing that reform, we should be guided not just by a concern for representation, but by a recognition of the responsibilities which membership entails. That need not necessarily imply accepting specific military commitments. But it does require strong engagement with security issues across the board, wherever they arise.”
The UN as a whole needed to deal better with threats to international peace and security, he added. This included more support for good governance – especially in Iraq and Afghanistan – and making humanitarian relief efforts better organised and more transparent.
