“To intervene...is not their duty”

By: Ash K. Srivastava [xe/xyr]

Yesterday, the UNSC voted on Resolution 1.0, with a few amendments. It passed unanimously, in an unprecedented show of unity. The amendments called for a weapons embargo, created a sub-committee “for determining the status of Bosnian peace,” and reworded a few clauses. One addition now reads, “at any point where the lives of the peacekeepers are threatened, they are not to intervene with violence as it is not in their duty to do so,” meaning that peacekeepers deployed under this resolution may repeat the failures of the 1990s and leave Bosniak Muslims vulnerable to Serbian attacks. Overall, the passage of this resolution is a success for the unity of the UNSC, but a failure on all other counts. There are clearly large flaws within this Resolution, as highlighted in a previous op-ed. At the end of the day, the UNSC is united, but the future of Bosnia and the oppressed minorities who are currently being persecuted, without any resistance from the UNSC, hangs in the political balance. Now, the UNSC will move on to conquer the issue of civil war in Tajikistan and I will move on to another committee. Stay tuned.