By Imad Mansour
The UN Security Council has been a key arbiter of international action
regarding the upheavals in the Arab world in 2011. In late February, the
Council issued Resolution 1970 calling for an “immediate end to the
violence” in Libya, imposing sanctions and an arms embargo, and asking
the International Criminal Court to investigate the regime of Col.
Muammar al-Qaddafi. Less than a month later, on March 17, the Council
passed Resolution 1973 authorizing NATO “to take all necessary measures”
to protect Libyan civilians, leading to Qaddafi’s eventual fall from
power. In late September, the Security Council will also take up the
request of Palestinian leader Mahmoud ‘Abbas for full UN membership for a
state of Palestine.










