فصلنامه سازمان های بین المللی
پیاپی 4 (زمستان 1392)

The issue of judicial supervision over the Security Council has two different, but interrelated aspects. First of all, the “necessity” of such supervision should be discussed. The present article assumes that the Security Council should be committed to the principles of international law, the goals of the United Nations, sovereign rights of member states, fundamental human rights guarantees, as well as the basic structure for the division of powers among various organs of the UN. Then it studies the Security Council’s procedure to show that this institution has been frequently found in violation of the aforesaid legal bounds. Security Council’s inattention to the limits of its powers can cast doubts on credibility of the entire UN system. It has been also shown that the “necessity” of judicial supervision can be proven on the basis of the requirements of the “rule of law.” Another aspect of this issue is the “possibility” of judicial supervision in view of the current state of international law. The present paper has shown that although the Charter of the United Nations has remained silent on this issue, it can be confirmed if final goals of this document are taken as basis for its interpretation.

Intervention by invitation has been always associated with the political objectives which seek to meet the interests of the interventionist state. International community has frequently witnessed such intervention not only during the Cold War era, but even after its termination. Although there is no specific rule on this kind of intervention in international law, certain criteria for the assessment of the legitimacy of this intervention can be found in international law. Intervention of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Bahrain was accompanied with passive reaction and silence of the Security Council. This paper first studies the criterion that can be used to assess legitimacy of intervention by invitation and then studies the legitimacy of intervention in Bahrain both on the basis of the aforesaid criteria and in accordance with the principle of responsibility to protect.

The United Nations is the most important international organization which has been founded to protect peace and security especially in international arena. The UN considers protection of peace and democratization as an effective mechanism to reduce and limit conflicts, especially in ethnic-religious communities. Following the Cold War, ethic-religious conflicts in Africa have become more intense. Since national governments have been unable to control such conflicts and the conflicts pose a threat to international security, international community has taken action to manage these conflicts. As such, the UN has embarked on democratization of African countries in the form of the second generation of peacekeeping operations. However, despite such efforts, the aforesaid conflicts have not been reduced, but continued unabated. Inefficiency of the UN model for management of conflicts is an important problem. The present research aims to find reasons behind the failure of the UN conflict management model; that is, democratization as a solution for ethnic-religious conflicts in Africa following the Cold War. The present article takes advantage of the theory of institutionalism for the analysis of transition to democracy before discussing reasons behind the failure of the UN action on democratization, failure of democratic rule, and continuation of conflicts in Africa.

The position of international organizations in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has differed according to the identity system adopted by the Iranian officials in various periods of time and their viewpoints about the nature and functions of international organizations and institutions. Since 1979 up to the present time, the experience has proven that when Iran has had positive interaction with international organizations, it has been in a better position to guarantee its security and national interests, and cooperation with international organizations in different fields has provided Iran's political, economic and cultural diplomacy with opportunities. On the other hand, a confrontational approach to international organizations has created various challenges and problems in various fields for the country and has damaged the international prestige of the Iranian government. This study reviews position of international organizations in the foreign policy of Iran from 1979 to 2003.

The Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union is one of the challenges facing the NATO and the leading role played by the U.S. The post-Cold War Europe attempted to be less dependent on U.S. and NATO, and to counter American influence on the security arrangements of the Old Continent. In a post-Cold War world, Europeans have been seeking a multipolar international order with increasing power and balanced strengthening of the role played by influential countries within the international system while supporting the liberal hegemony bestowed on the Americans. The United States believed in a hegemonic order through unipolar order based on multilateralism. The main question of this article is what are the common challenges facing the US and EU policies with regard to security and defense structure in Europe as well as regional issues? What is their approach in dealing with those issues? After discussing the theoretical framework of the topic, the paper would focus on challenges facing the U.S. and the E.U. defines and security policies from a hegemonic liberalism perspective and rejection of U.S. unilateral hegemony.

The power vacuum within the Central Asia in the aftermath of the Cold War led the regional actors to create an integrative structure. Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) signifies the sensitivity and determination of its founding members towards international, regional and local issues. The inherent rivalry and conflict in facing security crisis within the cooperative framework of SCO was the natural result of the presence of two nuclear and economic power, Russia and China, alongside micro-actors. This paper explains the nature of the communication system governing the relations among SCO members through the regional security arrangements approach. The hypothesis that “gathering of various approaches within the SCO would lead to increased cooperative relations, but also competetive and interest-maximiser” will be tested against various historical, geopolitical and economic variables.