An Anarcho-Pacifist Critique of the United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has faced many criticisms, but rarely have its critics drawn on both anarchism and pacifism to articulate a rigorous anarcho-pacifist critique of its design, track record and broader impact. Yet this theoretical angle – whose roots lay in the same fertile nineteenth-century context from which discussions about collective security grew to eventually lead to the founding of the United Nations – holds the potential to develop critical reflections that go further and deeper than those informed by prevalent International Relations theories. Firstly, with an eye on political outcomes, an anarcho-pacifist critique draws attention to those non-state interests, industries and constituencies that benefit, and those that are ignored, by the UNSC’s operation; denounces the ongoing and growing arms trade in which UNSC permanent members actively engage; and considers the role of the UNSC in not only maintaining but also helping legitimise a status quo that brings conflict and insecurity to many. Secondly, turning to concerns about warism and militarism, an anarcho-pacifist analysis critically reconsiders dominant assumptions about the need for potentially violent enforcement mechanisms to preserve peace and security; and argues that the impulse for constant military preparedness feeds the destabilising forces of militarism. And thirdly, with regards to broader political aims, an anarcho-pacifist critique contends that sustainable peace and security require socio-economic justice and not just attention to conflict and insecurity; and concludes that the very foundations of the Westphalian international order have to be reconsidered for the UNSC’s mission of safeguarding peace and security to have a chance of being fulfilled.