The Failure Of Collective Security In The Post World Wars I And II International System

The League of Nations and the United Nations Organization were two post-World War (World War I and World War II) organizations established for the maintenance of peace and security in the international system. One of the cardinal objectives of these organizations was the promotion of a Collective Security System which was considered as vital in the pursuit of global peace and security. In other words, Collective Security is an institutional mechanism established to address a comprehensive list of major threats to peace and security around the world. With the escalation of conflicts and wars in different parts of the world, there is therefore the need for collective responses at global, regional and national levels in conflict situations. The achievement of collective security in the international system would be based on the principle that any attack on any member of the United Nations would be considered as an attack on all the members. After a panoramic discourse of the meaning and nature of Collective Security, the paper also examines the problems of collective security in the international system; its failure under the League of Nations and the United Nations. The paper concludes that the weaknesses inherent in the system do not make it unuseful as it is a relevant factor in the maintenance of international peace and security.