America and the Arab World through the prism of the United Nations- A Study of Libya and Sudan in the
Post Cold War Era (1990-2006)

Abstract

There exists a number of important key issues surrounding the drafting of the United Nations (UN) Charter and affecting relations between the United States (US) and the UN - not least of which have been the standards of the UN Charter and the extent to which the US has influenced international decision-making and exploited the UN Security Council in attempts to promote US foreign policy interests and achieve its own political agenda. I query the variables affecting the UN Security Council’s powers under the auspices of maintaining the international balance of power and raise questions surrounding how the US was able to expand its own foreign policy agenda, specifically toward Arab nations, under the umbrella of the UN. In addition, I examine how the US made efforts to push other UN members in directions that they might not have wanted to follow in specific cases in the Arab World, including those of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Somalia, Libya and Sudan. The research illustrates a significant transformation in the tasks dealt with by the UN Security Council and its performance in the Arab World through the two case studies of Libya and Sudan. Primary data was collected through interviews with four administrators involved in Libyan and Sudanese foreign policy and the UN during the post-Cold War era (1990-2006). The findings reveal a positive correlation between the ability of the US to predominate over decision-making within the UN Security Council and to successfully influence its policies in order to achieve the collective legitimisation of its own actions and political agenda.