Nowadays many international or regional organizations are involved in international peace and security. Peacemaking, peace-enforcing and peacekeeping activities are employed by a number of organizations. For example: the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, African Union, European Union, and others. In fact, these organizations all send multinational forces to the various conflict areas. The expression ‘collective security’ does not occur in the United Nations Charter. It is, however, often used to refer to the system for the maintenance of international peace and security under the UN Charter and the corresponding provisions of regional organizations. According to the UN Charter the United Nations have the primary responsibility ‘[t]o maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take 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…’ (Art. 1 (1) UN Charter). If it determines, in accordance with Art. 39 UN Charter, the existence of a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the UN Security Council may make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken by members of the UN to maintain or restore international peace and security.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research in the field of International Peace and Security. It provides the basic materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library's subject heading (keyword) International Peace and Security is instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
Sources of international law
Treaties
Case-law
UN Declarations and Resolutions
Soft law
- Juma, M. (ed.), Compendium of Key Documents relating to Peace and Security in Africa, Pretoria, Pretoria University Law Press, 2006.
- Weijers, H. (ed.), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation: 60th Anniversary : Selected Basic Documents and Background Materials, Nijmegen, Wolf Legal Publishers, 2009.
Reference works
- Benner, T., S. Mergenthaler and P. Rothmann, The New World of UN Peace Operations: Learning to Build Peace?, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011.
- Durieux, B., J.-B. Jeangène Vilmer et F. Ramel (dir.), Dictionnaire de la guerre et de la paix, 1re édition, Paris, PUF Presses Universitaires de France, 2017.
- Isely, E.R. (ed.), United Nations Peacekeeping in the 21st Century, New York, NY, Nova Science Publishers, 2011.
- Kawamura, N., Y. Murakami and S. Chiba (eds.), Building New Pathways to Peace, Seattle, WA, University of Washington Press, 2011.
- Martel, G., Twentieth-Century War and Conflict: A Concise Encyclopedia, Chichester, Wiley Blackwell, 2015.
- Orakhelashvili, A., Collective Security, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011.
Selected books and articles
- Ángeles Cano Linares, M. de los, Orígenes y fundamentos prácticos del mantenimiento de la paz en Naciones Unidas: las posiciones durante el período de la Guerra Fría, Madrid, Dykinson, 2011.
- Autesserre, S., The Frontlines of Peace: an Insider's Guide to changing the World, New York, Oxford University Press, 2021.
- Bellamy, A.J. and Paul D. Williams, Providing Peacekeepers : the Politics, Challenges, and Future of United Nations Peacekeeping Contributions, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Gaese, L.-M., Zwangsmaßnahmen des Sicherheitsrates bei völkerrechtskonformem Staatenverhalten?, Hamburg : Kovač, 2013.
- Hehir, A., N. Kuhrt and A. Mumford (eds.), International Law, Security and Ethics: Policy Challenges in the Post-9/11 World, New York, Routledge, 2011.
- Kisangani, E.F. and Pickering, J., African Interventions: State Militaries, Foreign Powers, and Rebel Forces, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022.
- Kreß, C. and Lawless, R. (eds.), Necessity and Proportionality in International Peace and Security Law, New York, Oxford University Press, 2021.
- Mangala, J. (ed.), New Security Threats and Crises in Africa: Regional and International Perspectives, New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
- Nasu, H., International Law on Peacekeeping: a Study of Article 40 of the UN Charter, Leiden, Nijhoff, 2009.
- Paige, T. P., Petulant and Contrary: Approaches by the Permanent Five Members of the Un Security Council to the Concept of 'threat to the Peace' Under Article 39 of the Un Charter; International Humanitarian Law Series, Volume 56; Brill Nijhoff: Leiden, 2019.
- Peou, S., Peace and Security in the Asia-Pacific: Theory and Practice, Santa Barbara, CA, Praeger Security International, 2010.
- Tshiyembe, M., Le droit de la sécurité internationale, Paris, l'Harmattan, 2010.
- Winther, D., Regional Maintenance of Peace and Security under International Law : the Distorted Mirrors, London, Routledge, 2014.
- Apostolidis, C., "Le souverain, la regle, l'exeption", Revue générale de droit international public, 117 (2013), No. 4, pp 795-831.
- Carswell, A.J., "Unblocking the UN Security Council : the Uniting for Peace Resolution", Journal of conflict and security law, 18 (2013), No. 3, pp. 453-480.
- Corso, N., "À propos de l'applicabilité du droit de l'occupation militaire aux forces des Nations Unies", Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur internationales und europaisches Recht, 23 (2013), No. 4, pp. 609-638.
- Daillier, P., "Les opérations multinationales consécutives à des conflits armés en vue du rétablissement de la paix", 314 Recueil des cours, The Hague, Hague Academy of International Law, 2005, pp. 233-431.
- Feldman, D., "The Role of Constitutional Principles in Protecting International Peace and Security through International, Supranational and National Legal Institutions", in C. Geiringer and D.R. Knight (eds.), Seeing the World Whole: Essays in Honour of Sir Kenneth Keith, Wellington, Victoria University Press, 2008, pp. 17-47.
- Khan, R., "United Nations Peace-Keeping in Internal Conflicts: Problems and Perspectives", Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, 4 (2000), pp. 543-581.
- Hampson, F.O., "The Evolution of Security in a Globalizing World", in G. Finizio and E. Gallo (eds.) Democracy at the United Nations : UN Reform in the Age of Globalisation, Bruxelles, Lang, 2013, pp. 217-229.
- Schmalenbach, K., "Der Schutz der Zivilbevölkerung durch UN-Friedensmissionen und die Rechtsfolgen bei Mandatsversagen", Archiv des Volkerrechts, 51 (2013), No.2, pp. 170-200.
- Schrijver, N.J. and Blokker, N.M. (eds.), Elected Members of the Security Council: Lame Ducks or Key Players?, Leiden, Boston, Brill Nijhoff, 2020.
- Trahan, J, Existing Legal Limits to Security Council Veto Power in the Face of Atrocity Crimes, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020. [e-book]
Periodicals, serial publications
- International Peacekeeping
- Journal of Conflict and Security Law
- Journal of International Peacekeeping
- Journal on the Use of Force and International Law
- Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies [Springer]
- Vierteljahreszeitschrift für Sicherheit und Frieden (S+F)
Bibliographies
Fermann, G., Bibliography on International Peacekeeping, Dordrecht, Nijhoff, 1992.