Long, Bo and Summers, James and Wheatley, Steven (2019) The application of the United Nations collective security system in territorial disputes. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.
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Abstract
The thesis is an attempt to critique the operation of the UN collective security system, in particular in relation to territorial disputes. In the introduction, the author argues that territorial disputes are an important, common but dangerous type of international disputes which can be, and have been controversially intervened by the UNCSS. Accordingly, the author has found out that the interaction between territorial disputes and the UNCSS is worthy to be studied. In the First main chapter, the author has reviewed the past literatures on either the UNCSS or territorial disputes, and evaluated the traditional route of legal research. Accordingly, the author argues that his research perspective of jointly studying territorial disputes and the UNCSS by combining legal and political theories is rather original, as the existing literatures tend to focus on general studies from their own research fields. Meanwhile, the author also argues that the realistic philosophy and the qualitative library-based literary methods are rather suitable for the current research topic, as they can deviate from the set paradigm without becoming impracticable. In the second main chapter, the author has addressed the inherent nature and the peaceful settlement of territorial disputes. Accordingly, the author argues that the land-territory disputes among member states of the United Nations can be defined as the working objects of study of this thesis. Moreover, the author also argues that the characters of territorial disputes are unfavorable for their settlement, and the peaceful measures are overly affected by the will of the direct parties, thus the intervention of the UNCSS is necessary. In the third main chapter, the author has described the authoritative institutions, operating mechanism and predetermined purposes of the UNCSS in handling territorial disputes. Moreover, the author has also analyzed the relationships between the UNCSS and the peaceful measures, the right of self-defence and definite regional organizations in regard to territorial disputes. Accordingly, the author argues that the UNCSS is responsible for returning the relevant situation to peace, and it has to primarily trust in its own changing structure and ability. In the fourth main chapter, the author has examined the practice of the four sets of forcible or non-forcible measures of the UNCSS in dealing with territorial disputes. Accordingly, the author argues that none of these measures is perfect, but their effectiveness is generally determined by their coerciveness, or mandatory power. In the fifth main chapter, the author has proposed his thoughts and plan for the reform of the UNCSS in the field of territorial disputes. Accordingly, the author argues that the shortages of the UNCSS related to territorial disputes are both explainable and amendable, so that the future of the application of the UNCSS in territorial disputes is worthy to be anticipated. In the conclusion, the author summarized the entire thesis through listing all his research findings, following the set research questions.