Dispute Resolutions in International Law

World Peace Keeping by Regional Organizations

               
World Peace Keeping by Regional Organizations
The predecessor organization of the United Nations, the League of Nations had recognized that the regional organizations can exist and play the role of promoting world peace. Article 21 of the League of Nations stated, “Nothing in this Covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe Doctrine for securing the maintenance of peace.” The United Nations being present global organization, the successor to the League of Nations has likewise maintained this international principle and incorporated it in its Charter in Article 52(1) as,
 “Nothing in the present Charter precludes the existence of regional arrangements of agencies for dealing with such matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action provided that such arrangements or agencies and their activities are in consistence with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations.”
Even prior to both the global organizations the role of regional organizations in peace keeping was admitted and recognized as a settled principle of international law. The substantial examples are British Empire and the Monroe Doctrine. 
In pursuance of this principle of regional organizations’ peace keeping role, the League of Nations’ period witnessed a number of peace keeping agreements like The Balkan Entente, the Locarno Agreements and the Briand proposal for a European Union and also the Pan-American Union also known as Inter-American System which late on transformed into Organization of Arab States (OAS). Recent examples are that of League of Arab States and Organization of African Unity, OAU. 
Clearly the Article 52(1) of the Charter is an arrangement to break a common ground between the concept of regionalism and universalism but in a sense it has restricted the regional peace keeping role subordinate to that of the Security Council as the peaceful means can always be adopted by the regional organizations but it seems that the use of force in peace keeping is linked to the sanction of the Security Council. Here a very interesting situation arises when there is fear of the use of veto by any of the permanent members of the UN, against any proposed peace keeping measures implying the use of force, the interested nations prefer the regional arrangement in order to seek validity to the proposed use of force regarding the issue instead of subordination to the Security Council.  This was particular of the cold war era, where generally it was impossible for both the great powers to agree on a single agreed solution of a peace trouble.
One view is held that the regional organizations can supplement the role of the world organization in peace keeping but they cannot be a substitute to the world organizations in  this regard. The regional organizations may be formed for the purpose of collective self defense of the member states. Here question arises whether they have got the authority under the International Law to the use of force against a state outside the organization as a peace keeping measure or as a self defense measure. But when such a regional arrangement uses force against a member state, can the affected state approach the United Nations regardless of the implications of the regional treaty of which she is a member.  These, and many other questions have occupied the minds of the lawyers in international law but the proper answer to these situations can only be arrived at after having an over view of the regional organizations, their constituent treaties, their respective history, their size and area of influence, their organizational structure, number of their member states, their past role in international peace keeping, their respective roles in fields other than peace keeping like trade, economy, culture, education, science, industry etc.
In short regional agencies or groups can possess more potential for peace keeping, preventive diplomacy, peace making and peace building after the conflict due to their greater concern in the conflict affecting the regional geography. It also increases their sense of participation, development of consensus and democratization of the international community. It also has developed decentralization, delegation of cooperation activities, concerns with the United Nations and increasing mature approach towards the solution of conflicts everywhere in the world.  
Here the fact remains that the regional organizations, in many instances, have an increased reliability from the point of view of the combatants as compared to that of the United Nations and in turn, the chances of the success of the peace keeping measures on the part of the regional organizations are also brighter. So the encouragement of the role of the regional organization, while conducting an assignment in peace keeping, should be appreciated and encouraged on behalf of the world community in general and the United nations in particular.