The Trusteeship Council and State Failure – Trusteeship Systems and the Forgotten UN Organ in the 21st Century

Abstract

This paper shows the historical path of the different types of trusteeship systems. It describes the evolution of the League of Nations’ Mandate System, the United Nations’ Trusteeship Council and their application to different regions. The paper identifies the problems facing the creation of a trusteeship system nowadays and tries to offer possible answers to them as well. The United Nations Trusteeship System supervised the relationships between nonself-governing territories and their colonial masters. The purpose of the organisation was purely the implementation of decolonisation measures. That is the reason why the Council suspended its activities in 1994. Thanks to the globalisation, the Negative Spillover Effects (NSEs) of the 21st century may make the trusteeship systems desirable once again. Security problems like state failure demand a more effective response from the international community. The cases of Somalia, East Timor and Kosovo show that the UN Security Council was ready to create missions tasked with similar responsibilities as a trusteeship in the past. During the discussion about the war-torn Syria, creation of a “safe zone” was mentioned as well. The ultimate solution for these chaotic places could be a new type of trusteeship system. The paper argues in favour of the Trusteeship Council to be revitalized as the main organ responsible for the management of these problems.