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Why the UN Security Council Stumbles in Responding to Coups
More often than not, calculations of realpolitik hold the UN Security Council back from taking action to deter or reverse military takeovers.
Yet UN member states can use the body as a platform for efforts to keep soldiers in the barracks and away from politics.
- ICG
In October 2021, ambassadors from the UN Security Council were on a visit to Niger when they heard that the Sudanese military had seized power in Khartoum, arresting civilian ministers.
The diplomats briefly wondered whether they could hold an impromptu Council meeting on the crisis in their hotel.
They decided not to do so, and the Council took a few days to hammer out a…