Building a reliable rapid‐reaction capability for the United Nations

Abstract

Of the two main ways of rendering the UN's rapid‐reaction capability fully reliable, neither the institutionally most straightforward option of activating the provisions of Article 43 of the UN Charter, nor the institutionally more complicated option of establishing a standing UN force, have gained sufficient political support. This article shows, however, that in the middle ground between these two options, numerous initiatives are underway that, if continued, could improve significantly the reliability of the UN's rapid‐reaction capability.