Inside the UN security council : legitimation practices and Darfur /

Gifkins (Univ. of Technology, Australia) focuses on the informal practices of the UN Security Council that arguably help it pass resolutions. In her view, some of these informal practices are now seen as "legitimate" and affect "the process and outcome of negotiations" among member states (p. 1). The quest for unanimity, the desire to be seen as doing something, and consistency in argumentation, inter alia, are said to be either internal or external legitimate practices that grease the wheels of Council policy making. The situation of Darfur in 2004--2007 constitutes her test case. Beginning as a dissertation at the University of Sydney in 2013, this well-researched book has been read by numerous commentators and presented at various conferences. It provides grist for further discussion. For instance, if China yielded to the desire for unanimity in some debates over Darfur, what explains its use of the veto at other times? If the United States allowed Council reference to the International Criminal Court to be seen as doing something, why did the Bush administration also levy economic sanctions on various actors? In the end, which informal practices are "legitimate" and why? Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Graduate students and faculty. --David P. Forsythe, emeritus, University of Nebraska