The Charter of the United Nations and Conflict Prevention

　Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations (UN Charter) states that the purpose of the United Nations is to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace. Although it is not widely known in public, behind-the-scene diplomacy has been conducted to lead to peace through the role of the Secretary-General as described in the articles 97 to 99 of the UN Charter.

　The end of the Cold War brought an end to the East-West ideological conflict that had paralyzed the functions of the United Nations Security Council (UN Security Council) and had hampered the effectiveness of UN international peacekeeping missions. At the same time, as a new opportunity to make a significant contribution to peace was born, the UN was faced with new problems of internal conflict and ethnic dispute which were not covered by the UN Charter.

　The former UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, defined preventive diplomacy as “to prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent existing disputes from escalating into conflicts and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur”. Chapter VI Article 33 of the UN Charter describes a wide variety of diplomatic instruments that could be used to peacefully settle any dispute.

　The report of June 2001 to the Secretary-General from the UN Secretariat emphasized the role of UN member states in conflict prevention and requested a basis for activities in Chapter VI. This report stressed great importance to the responsibilities of UN member states and the role of civil society in conflict prevention. This was based on the recognition of the necessity of a comprehensive approach to dealing with short and long term causes of conflict. Long-term causes include structural issues of governance including issues in economic development, democracy, equality and human rights. Short-term causes include real issues of conflict such as conflicts of interest, psychological frictions and the occurrence of unanticipated phenomena between the disputing parties.

　Consequently conflict prevention and sustainable and equitable development are closely related. Cooperation of international organizations other than the UN, public sectors, and civil society is also essential for effective conduct.

Lessons in Conflict Prevention from the UN

　A good relationship with the media is important for the UN to effectively conduct conflict prevention activities. A mission is more likely to succeed when the UN tries to settle any dispute without attracting media attention. Before a situation escalates, the Secretary-General is able to hear the views of relevant parties, present a solution and ease their tension without them losing face. Because disclosed negotiation may limit its flexibility, parties often prefer “quiet diplomacy”. However, the international community is demanding transparency and accountability in negotiations, thus there is an urgent need to establish an appropriate system for information disclosure.

　Even when an outbreak of conflict has been anticipated by an early-warning system, it has not been able to be prevented due to a lack of political will in many countries on the UN Security Council, especially key ones. Although the Secretary-General repeatedly denounced human-rights violations in eastern Zaire from 1994 to 1995, the Security Council never took action. Despite very advanced warning by the UN, the 1999 NATO air strike in Kosovo was not prevented. Though early-warning systems exist, the political circumstances at the time determine whether key members on the Security Council take action or not. What is necessary for effective measures is not only to establish an early-warning system but also to promote the political will of UN member states toward conflict prevention.

　Timing of intervention is also important. In the case that relevant parties express a strong will to resort to arms, the possibility of a peaceful solution is eliminated. Intervention must be conducted neither too early nor too late. In the settlement of the Falklands Conflict, the Secretary-General at the time, Javier Perez de Cuellar, carefully planned the timing of intervention and was able to secure agreement at diplomatic level. However, the intervention broke down with the Argentinean government’s refusal to accept the suggested compromise.

　What is important for dispute settlement is to make appropriate decisions on how and when to intervene depending on the time and situation. In this sense, dispute settlement is more an art than a science.