The U.N. Charter and International Security

The fundamental idea of international security is contained in the UN Charter. Article 1 commits all members "to maintain international peace and security, and to that end, to take effective collective measures" to preserve or restore the peace. Article 24 gives to the Security Council the "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security," and by Article 25 members "agree to accept and carry out the decisions" of the council. Article 42 gives the Security Council the authority to "take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security." Key language in Article 43 requires members to "undertake to make available to the Security Council, on its call... armed forces... necessary for the purposes" of peace maintenance. The forces are subject to "special agreements" between the UN and member countries, but the article (as written in 1945) states that the "agreements shall be negotiated as soon as possible." If you think about the implications of this language, clauses to which virtually all countries are bound legally, it is very powerful.