Peace Building After Armed Conflict - Research Paper Example

Moreover, the machinations of war are extremely complex and what constitutes excessive force in one situation differs from another. The spectrum is so broad that therein also lays the problem of having a definitive framework for the crime of aggression, further compounded by the broad discretion of Article 39 of the Charter enabling the UN to take necessary measures to restore international peace and security, which has become central as a justification for UN peacebuilding initiatives post armed conflict.

Appurtenant to this is the fact that the end of the Cold War and the events of 9/11 have provided a catalyst for unprecedented challenges to the international order and national security policy. Arguably the most important challenge has been the appropriate and most efficacious method to combat a transient and intangible enemy, which transcends borders and the conventional notion of an organised army “yet has shown remarkable resilience against traditional military firepower” (Mahmood, 2008 at www.

stormingmedia.us/19/1979/A197974.html). To this end, it has further been posited that the post Cold War era arguably has heralded a new peaceful world order based on the entrenched deterrence theory, however Mahmood comments that “if these dividends are spent on unsound and archaic tactics to defeat the new enemy, we will squander a historic opportunity for our flawed strategies” (Mahmood, 2008 at www.stormingmedia.us/19/1979/A197974.html).Moreover, the proliferation of terrorism as a global phenomenon and the problem of defining the concept under international law measures add further gravitas to Mahmood’s arguments regarding the current flaws in counter-terrorism strategy post 9/11.