When Aspiration Exceeds Capability: The UN and Conflict Prevention

Conflict prevention is enshrined in Paragraph 1, Article 1 of the UN Charter, which refers to the need for “effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace.” Article 1 says nothing about how prevention might be achieved, and in practice preventive policy can take many forms. While most commonly associated with the relatively traditional idea of “preventive diplomacy,” threats of physical or economic coercion may also be preventive instruments. Finally, there is what is sometimes called “early” or “structural” prevention—strategies that address the so-called “root causes” of armed conflicts. The latter is the focus of this chapter.