Mythology Chapter 7 Summary

[Catherine Rubeo]

Thissummary provides an overview of key concepts from Chapter 1 of Classical Mythology by Mark P. O. Morford, Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Sham. It discusses the challenges of defining myth and differentiates between myth, saga, legend, and folktale. Major approaches to interpreting myth are examined, including psychological, ritualist, structuralist, and feminist perspectives. The relationship between myth and religion, truth, and society is explored. Comparative studies of mythology are discussed as well as the inclusion of themes like homosexuality in classical myths. The summary is over 3 sentences.Read less

Although the express mention of Chapter VII is not essential, the Council seems in recent times to recognise increasingly the significant importance of clarity. The clearer the language adopted, the better the prospects for effectiveness and credibility of Council decisions. This may not be possible on every occasion, but it seems that on balance the Council is conscious of the need to avoid ambiguity.

1. In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf.

In early Council practice, resolutions never expressly invoked Chapter VII. It seems that the Council simply took decisions, and whether it was acting under Chapter VII became clear from the context and from the actual words in the decisions.

The first occasion in which an explicit reference to Chapter VII was made was apparently a draft resolution in 1968 on measures against the Ian Smith regime in Southern Rhodesia. Council discussions on that subject had started in 1965 in response to the unilateral declaration of independence by a white minority regime in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia. Discussions took place against the backdrop of broader issues of the day including the decolonisation movement and the policies of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Major divisions existed among Council members, in particular between former colonial powers and recently-independent African states. This was reflected in disagreement on whether to label the situation in Southern Rhodesia a threat to international peace and security. (Some may have feared this would lead to the application of mandatory sanctions and even demands for a Council authorisation to use force.) Many draft resolutions therefore contained formulations indicating growing Council pressure, but stopped short of using language drawn from Chapter VII.

By April 1966, growing international pressure led to the adoption of resolution 242, with a limited authorisation to use force to prevent supply of oil to Southern Rhodesia through the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. Subsequently, in December, resolution 232 adopted a wide array of sanctions, but specified that this action fell under articles 39 and 41 (thereby excluding the use of force from the range of coercive measures available). Both resolutions were clearly adopted using the authority of Chapter VII, but neither made any explicit invocation of it.

This lack of formal clarity is sometimes a result of the political environment in which resolutions are negotiated. Pressures to include ambiguities or omit explicit references to Chapter VII in Council resolutions are sometimes accommodated in order to secure political agreement.

And indeed, on many occasions, the Council has begun to adopt resolutions that reflect the application of such a policy. It is probable that many such resolutions also reflected the existence of wide consensus among members on the substance, which therefore permitted the adoption of unequivocally binding language.

Some recent resolutions have become even more explicit and include references not only to Chapter VII but also to articles 40 or 41. This is in part to resolve concerns that there be no ambiguity that the resolution could constitute a possible authorisation to use of force. Such is the case with mandatory measures expressly under article 40 in resolution 1696 (2006) on Iran. Similarly, article 41 was expressly invoked in resolutions 1718 (2006) on North Korea and 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) on Iran. (The rationale for this even more explicit language seems to hark back to the disputes in the 1960s over Southern Rhodesia discussed above.)

Clearly, for many Council members the approach of explicitly labelling the provisions under which the Council was acting was a matter of establishing clear evidence of intent. And in some of these recent cases it was Russia and China who were champions of clarity.

By contrast, there are cases in which the formula is not so much applied for the purpose of giving clear evidence of intent, but rather it has been applied for purely rhetorical purposes. Resort to an express mention of Chapter VII is sometimes inspired by little more than a desire to ratchet up political pressure to change undesirable behaviour, and as a hint at the possible imposition of enforcement measures in the future.

One recent such example is resolution 1679 (2006), in which the Council under Chapter VII laid out a number of requests to the Secretary-General, including that the necessary preparatory planning for transition from the AU Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) to a UN operation be expedited. Chapter VII is never needed for requests to the Secretariat, since they are decisions internal to the UN However, the political context of the resolution was marked by reluctance from the Sudanese government to allow the transition, and fears that a deployment by a preparatory technical assessment mission might be obstructed.

Chapter VII contains explicit powers to impose binding measures. The analysis in this report suggests that the Council has at times imposed binding measures under Chapter VII, without explicitly invoking it. But can the Council impose binding measures without relying on Chapter VII at all?

Resolutions 242 and 338 are widely recognised in the Council and in the literature as two of the most significant pieces of Council action. While the resolutions concern a wide number of issues of ongoing significance for the Middle East, one relevant aspect in the context of this report is to whether they have binding nature.

Just as there were considerable divisions on the issues of substance,[iv] there emerged differences of view as to whether the resolution was binding. Over the years a number of members stressed to the need for compliance with resolution 242 on the basis that, under article 25, it was binding on the parties. [v] But there have been instances in which some seemed to signal that the agreement reached within the Council at the adoption of resolution 242 was that it was not intended to be legally mandatory.[vi]

This alternative view is based on the argument that articles 24 and 25 provide the bedrock of Council powers and functions. Article 24 confers on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. While specific powers are granted to the Security Council for the discharge of these duties in Chapters VI, VII, VIII, and XII, the specific articles do not limit the primary grant of power and the relevance of article 25 for conferring binding impact on decisions taken pursuant to the general power.

The list of Council specific powers in article 24 (2) is structured more like a non-exhaustive list than a restrictive one. And it is also the case that the Charter grants powers to the Council in other chapters, such as:

The drafting of article 25 at the San Francisco Conference is also relevant. In a statement read to the Security Council during the debates on Trieste in 1947, the Secretary-General reminded members that:

Prior to the Namibia and Middle East debates, a number of early Council precedents seemed to reveal relative agreement around the idea that the Council possesses general binding powers pursuant to articles 24 and 25. On at least two occasions, the Council had decided on measures with a wider understanding of the extent of such powers.

The issue of the binding character of Security Council resolutions seemed to fade in the later Cold War years. And, in the immediate post-Cold War period, the general cohesion in the Council seemed to ensure that members avoided divisive issues, especially complex legal problems with systemic implications. However, in recent years the issue has reappeared.

Nevertheless it is a practical reality that Council language often does display a degree of ambiguity and that this stems from the complex bargaining that frequently precedes the adoption of a resolution. This process is governed by the need for political compromise and sometimes the urgency of a particular situation. These factors often trump a more careful consideration of wording and clarity.

The absence of Chapter VII in resolution 1695, and yet the apparent intent that the resolution impose binding obligations, seems to reinforce the wider interpretation of Council powers under articles 24 and 25. The opposition to placing the resolution under Chapter VII seems to have been more connected with carefulness regarding political connotations often associated with that chapter, particularly the use of force.

Certain provisions in Council resolutions may be recommendations which, by their very nature, are not binding. However, they may also contain a degree of obligation. Judge Hersch Lauterpacht has suggested that,

(It could also be argued that the Charter creates the obligation of seeking a pacific solution to any situation. In making recommendations, the Council may bring to the surface that obligation if only by clarifying the link between a particular situation and the general duty to seek a peaceful solution.)

The same conclusion could logically be extended to other non-binding provisions, such as demands included in presidential statements. (For a more detailed analysis of Council statements, see Section 5 infra.) While states are not legally obliged to accept and carry out such provisions, the mere fact that the Security Council, the body conferred with primary responsibility for international peace and security, has pronounced itself on an issue may give rise to the obligation to duly consider Council messages in good faith.

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