Towards an Understanding of UN Peaceful Settlement of Dispute: A Case Study of Afghanistan

Abstract

The main purpose of United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security to avoid possibility of war. The UN charter stipulates the maintenance of international peace and security under Chapter VI “Pacific Settlement of Dispute”. The parties to dispute are encouraged to find solutions through the pacific means such as negotiation, mediation, enquiry, conciliation, good offices, arbitration, and judicial settlement. The purpose of this research is to analyze the role of UN in peaceful settlement of Afghan Conflict in the times of the Soviet and the US invasions. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan UN was actively involved in the peace negotiations that resulted in the signing the Geneva Accord. During the Civil War 1991-2000 UN Secretary General Peace plan and UN special mission to Afghanistan had mandate for the formation of broad-based government in Afghanistan. The US Government started negotiating with the Taliban directly and reached an agreement through their Doha office promising to leave Afghanistan. Biden regime delayed the withdrawal and as a result the Taliban overran Kabul government and the US coalition forces had to withdraw in haste leaving a destroyed country. This study explores the implementation of agreements that were brokered under the auspices of UN. The semi structured interviews were conducted from academics to understand the applicability of UN chapter VI and to analyze the UN role in Afghanistan and implementation of agreements. The case study of Afghanistan is complex as it involved many actors including major powers, regional countries, and non-state actors. The research signifies that in case of Afghanistan during the process of negotiation and drafting of agreement UN played a crucial role.