United Nations Security Council and World Peace: Challenges and Prospects

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) remains the primary organ responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, playing a pivotal role in preventing conflicts, resolving disputes, and authorising collective action when necessary. Since its establishment in 1945, the UNSC has been instrumental in facilitating peacekeeping missions, imposing sanctions, and providing diplomatic platforms for negotiation among conflicting parties. The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges, successes and failures of the United Nations Security Council in its effort to promote world peace. Since data for the study came from secondary sources such as books, journals, websites, and periodicals, it used the historical method. The study finds that, though UNSC has achieved success in its intervention efforts but the failures outweigh those successes due to the challenges of UNSC permanent members' veto power, selective intervention practice among others. This paper recommends, among other things, that the United Nations Security Council should prioritise structural reforms that address the imbalance of power within its permanent membership, enhance transparency in its decision-making processes, and reduce the frequent use of veto power that often paralyses collective action in times of crisis.