1. Introduction.- 2. Overview of Security Council Powers.- 3. Analysis of Security Council’s Practice.- 4. The Age of International Law in Security Council’s Practice.- 5. Security Council Resolutions and Selection Bias.- 6. The Future Ahead.

The book offers insights on whether international law can shape the politics of the Security Council and, conversely, the extent to which the latter contribute to the development of international law. By providing a systematic analysis of the quantity and quality of international legal instruments referred to in the text of resolutions, the book reconstructs patterns of the Security Council’s behavioural regularities and assesses them against the provisions of the United Nations Charter, which establishes its mandate. The analysis is divided into three periods – the origins and Cold War period, post-Cold War period and the twenty-first century – and assesses the resolutions passed in each period by thematic category. The book argues that while international law plays an important role in shaping the politics of the Security Council, the Council’s resolutions do not contribute significantly to the development of international law.

“The study demonstrates the bias of the SC towards international terrorism and protection of women, children and civilians, and its ignorance of other issues. The book also shows the benefit of combin-ing empirical with normative work in international law, as it uses the data to propose a new theory of self-imposed duties in a few areas, which ‘may redefine the very idea of international peace and security’. … overall the book definitively sets out a path worth following.” (The European Journal of International Law, Vol. 28 (1), 2017) 

Provides the first comprehensive analysis of Security Council’s practice from a legal perspective Presents an original database aimed at facilitating the reader to discern what 'is' and what 'ought to be' in Security Council's practice Cross analysis of the text of resolutions by selected periods of time and categories equips the reader with an easy to follow tool for understanding the legal underpinnings of the politics of the Security Council Enriches existent scholarly literature by advancing the theory of Security Council's self-imposed duties Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras