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Advantages of the Current United Nations Collective Security System

· Global Legitimacy: UN decisions carry international legal authority. Security Council approval signifies a globally shared, legitimate response.

· Dialogue Platform: The UN facilitates communication among nations, reducing misunderstandings.

· Peacekeeping Operations: UN peacekeepers stabilize conflict zones, protect civilians, support ceasefires, and create conditions for political negotiations.

· Shared Responsibility: This system encourages collective action rather than leaving individual nations to confront global challenges alone.

Weaknesses

· Veto Power Issue: The five permanent members can veto any action. When their interests are affected, the UN often fails to effectively address crises.

· Slow Decision-Making Process: The UN requires consensus among numerous nations, leading to sluggish responses during urgent crises.

·Limited Enforcement Power: The UN relies on member states to provide troops and funding. Without national support, it cannot take robust measures.

·Inadequate Representation: The Security Council's structure reflects the power dynamics of 1945 rather than today's world.

·Challenges in Peacekeeping Operations: Some missions lack resources, clear mandates, or political backing, making it difficult to effectively protect civilians.

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The current system of UN collective security functions as a vital but deeply flawed mechanism, offering the unique strength of global legitimacy and a legal framework under Chapter VII to authorize multilateral interventions and peacekeeping missions that have successfully stabilized nations like Sierra Leone and Timor Leste. However, this potential is frequently paralyzed by the structural reality of the Security Council’s P5 veto, which creates a "selective security" system where action is impossible against the interests of major powers as seen in Syria or Ukraine compounded by the lack of an independent standing army, which forces the UN to rely on slow, voluntary troop contributions that often arrive too late to prevent atrocities.

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The UN’s system of collective security offers both strengths and weaknesses in the system

Strengths:

the UN’s global legitimacy as the primary authoritative body to mandate collective action against threats to international peace and security

the principle of collective security, whereby aggression against one member = aggression against all, met by global preponderance of power

humanitarian and peacekeeping functions, where belong enforcement, the UN has also evolved to perform peacekeeping operations, with regard to human rights and peace building efforts

However, weaknesses include:

veto power, this is one of the most significant weaknesses as the veto power held by the 5 permanent states is unfair as it permits any single member to block resolutions and enforcement actions

the systems effectiveness also relies heavily on the political will of member states, especially the major powers

the system can also appear to apply “double standards” with an inequality in enforcement against small states and such

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Strength:

Set a universal's standards and values that such as nuclear safety, air traffic control and etc. that makes the communication between states more effectively and keeping the world peace.

Humanitarian aids: Although theres always critiques on the effectiveness of un in peacekeeping, but the un and it's department will be always the most powerful and influencial org to deliver the humanitarian aid to the ground

Weakness:

The Veto power of P5 and their permanent position have benefits the states that have veto power to persue its own national interest rather than international peace.

Theres no enforcement in the un bodies, it always base on the consensus and volunteering by the member states, hence lack of enforcement could not bring last long peace

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The UN collective security system provides unmatched global legitimacy, institutional stability, and peacekeeping expertise. However, veto politics, outdated power structures, and operational constraints significantly limit its effectiveness. Reforms are necessary but remain politically difficult due to entrenched P5 interests.

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Strengths

UN decisions especially through the Security Council carry strong international authority.

Nearly all states are members, allowing inclusive dialogue and coordination.

UN can send out peacekeepers to monitor ceasefires, protect civilians, and support peace agreements.

Weaknesses

P5 (US, UK, France, China, Russia) can block action even in severe crises

System reflects 1945 power distribution which limits representation of Global South.

Powerful states may avoid accountability or influence UN decisions for political interests.

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Strength:

The UN collective security system benefits from near-universal membership, with 193 states providing strong global legitimacy for its decisions, especially those made by the Security Council (SC) under Chapter VII. Its institutional structure allows the SC— a permanent body that meets continuously— to act rapidly in crises through binding resolutions, sanctions, and the authorization of force, including the deployment of peacekeeping missions that offer effective conflict-management tools. The system also operates on the principle that an attack on one is a concern for all, creating a deterrent effect by signaling that aggressors may face coordinated sanctions, diplomatic pressure, international isolation, or even military action from the international community.

Weakness:

The greatest weakness of the UN collective security system is the veto power of the Permanent Five (US, UK, France, China, Russia), as any one of them can block action even in the face of war crimes, invasions, or mass atrocities, leading to repeated paralysis on issues such as Syria, Ukraine, and Palestine. Additionally, the UN has no standing army and relies heavily on member states for troops, funding, and equipment, resulting in delayed deployments, poorly equipped missions, and weak responses in urgent crises like Rwanda in 1994. The system also relies too heavily on diplomacy, negotiations, condemnations, and sanctions— tools that are often insufficient when strong coercive measures are required— meaning that states sometimes ignore UN resolutions without facing meaningful consequences.

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The collective security system of the United Nations has many strengths as well as weaknesses. For one, it provides a framework for a peaceful dispute resolution, where states are able to de-escalate through the mechanism of UN like peaceful settlement, ICJ and good offices. It also build global norms like the prohibition of force and imposing sanctions on problematic regimes, which create more political costs for bad faith aggressors. However, the veto power of the P5 is the largest structural flaw as if any P5 member or their ally is involved, the collective security collapses. For example, russia vetoes any resolutions on the Ukraine crisis, US vetoes any resolution on Israel Palestine crisis. The collective security becomes very much selective and inconsistent when the P5 can do anything they want.

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A key strength lies in the fact that it has gained worldwide legitimacy because of the broad international recognition of its decisions offered by the UN's 193 member states. It also provides a legal framework through the UN Charter, which makes clear mechanisms ranging from mediation, peacekeeping, and sanctions to the authorization of force under Chapter VII. Being multilateral in nature, it fosters common action among states, thereby reducing unilateralism, especially on the part of powerful states.

But it hardly works due to political constraints, mainly because of the veto powers by the five permanent members of the Security Council. This often leads to paralysis in cases where big powers' interests are at stake. Other criticisms also exist about selective punitive measures being taken against weaker states while stronger states get away easily. Further, it does not have a standing military force of its own, is largely dependent upon contribution provided by its members, and generally engages late in any crisis. Then there are issues like sovereignty and new emerging challenges in the form of cyber warfare.