Legitimacy of power (the permanence of five in security council)
“A war is fought every day without being declared”
Dilip Sinha’s work is fabulous and clearly indicates the tenacity and
conviction in writing this magnum of a book not because of its volume but
because of quality and quantity of information it has managed to contain in 325
pages. It Is evident that Dilip Sinha’s stint in heading India at UN affairs
have helped him immensely in conceiving this book. His diplomatic and
international relations reflect in the book when he describes the foreign
relations and power paradigm prevailing in the world. I am a great fiction fan
and rarely reads anything beyond my likes and consider non-fiction as a refuge.
But the cover of Legitimacy of Power compelled me to read and review this book.
Legitimacy of power is one such book where facts supersede fiction and the
content history and legacy it eloquently describes is phenomenal.
Dilip Sinha combines his rich
experience in multilateral diplomacy with meticulous research to produce an
outstanding work on the UN security council and its role in international
security. The book is spread in 16 chapters and each and every chapter clearly
conveys the purpose, these chapters are result of extensive research and takes
us through the lanes of history. The book incorporates some discussion and
meetings held between world’s eminent leaders and also shares some of them as
anecdotes and reveals the uphill task to maintain some equilibrium in world
peace. This book has historical details, legal rigor as well as a nuanced
awareness of the normative compulsion and practical politics driving this great
institution in the end Sinha ji righty warns us that a security council
rendered unpredictable or unreliable by P5 could affect its own credibility and
ultimately the legitimacy of UN.
Reading this book has been eye opening as it has helped me overcome some fallacy
and wrong notions associated with UN and help me better understand the role of
security council and its failure on few occasions. The history and motive
behind the formation of an international organization and its functioning. This
book is immensely helpful for academicians or people studying international relations or simply
for someone who loves reading and acquiring some knowledge and I would
certainly be re-reading it.
This book is spanned in 300 odd pages and divided among 16 chapters but I
would be reviewing this book in 3 parts
1.
Pre and early UN era
2.
Initial success and challenges
3.
Diversification and emergence
of power epitome.
1.
This section discusses the
evolution of collective defense and collective security in modern times in
Europe and the origin of international law to regulate the use of force. It
also chronologically discusses the rise of various international organization
in attempt at sustained international co-operations, the rise of Germany and
Italy and the advent of 1st world war. US for the first time came
into international foray and helped Europe building 1st
international organization for general security and can be termed as momentous
foreground in laying of UN. 1st instance when then world giants US
USSR and Britain came together for global security. The book further discusses
San Francisco conference when charter was finalized and adopted, though some
difference could be seen in the name of countries for security council as every
county wanted more of their allies.
2.
In the second part of the book
UN security council successfully managed independence of Indonesia ceasefire
and deployment of military observers in Palestine and Kashmir. This section
also showcases the tussle for power and dominance of power among big 5 on issue
of power sharing. 1st military operation authorized by security
council and peacekeeping efforts in Congo were 1st decision of its
own and highlighted the role of UN security council. The biggest testing time
was making peace in the cold war era and was possible only because of
cooperation among big powers. Further this section describes of various other
military operations.
3.
The last section describes the
phase of activities as security council started acquiring new mandates by
expanding the ambit of security to humanitarian issue human rights terrorism
democracy climate change women empowerment and protects the citizens of country
whose government were unable or not willing. The formation of international
court of justice is a stepping stone in UN. The book also discusses the
difference of opinion and the points of agreement among the 5.
Dilip Sinha has done some regress research a have covered the longitude
to latitude of UN security council. The incidents quoted by him in the book are
substantial and shows the totality of the book. This book is highly recommended
for scholars, students or curious people who would like to know insight of
legitimacy of power.
Highly recommended !!!!
