国連60年の軌跡と課題  [in Japanese] United Nation's 60 year History and Challenges  [in Japanese]

The United Nations (UN) celebrates its 60^<th> anniversary in 2005. The role of the UN as an autonomous international organization as well as a forum for negotiation among states is unique in its character. Reflecting UN's 60 year history, this paper summarizes the history of and examines the challenges faced by the UN today. In particular it touches upon the issues of use of force and the protection of human rights. Firstly, it discusses two major efforts by the UN to achieve main purposes provided in the UN Charter; one is the emergence and development of peacekeeping operations (PKO), and the other is human rights standardsetting activities. These activities lead to strengthen the principle of non-use of force and the development of human rights norms in the international community, further expanding the function of the UN. While there are efforts to be appreciated as UN activities, some problems remain unsolved. One is a gap between the emergence of universal norms and the limitation of the function of the UN. While a common norm such as the protection of human rights in the international society is recognized, and actions are required in order to respect and protect it, they are under restriction by the UN Charter provisions. In addition, taking an action depends upon decisions of the permanent member states of Security Council. Although there is no disagreement among states in regard to human rights values or its superiority, states do not necessarily agree upon measures to be taken. As a result of that, when states cannot or do not reach an agreement, attempts are made by some states to resort to non-authorized military actions without Security Council decisions. Military campaign to Kosovo by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999 and so-called "war" to Iraq by the United States are of examples. It shall be noted that criticisms posed to the UN implicitly indicates expectations toward the unique role of the UN on the one hand, it also gives negative impacts upon its authority on the other. The paper then discusses the topic related to UN reform as a means to tackle these issues, mainly focusing upon a newly introduced conception of "responsibility to protect".