抄録
The Korean War and the Gulf War were the two largest wars in scale after World War II, except for the Vietnam War and the Middle East Wars. The United Nations Security Council responded efficiently each time. Because of the different background of the situation, the Security Council's responses also differed in some points and had similarities in others.
At the outset of the Korean War, the Security Council adopted a resolution calling on the North Korean authority to withdraw its forces immediately. In the case of the Gulf War, the Security Council adopted a similar resolution at the start of the Gulf Crisis, also demanding that Iraq withdraw its troops with a stronger expression in the text. This tough language was the result of the end of the Cold War and the weakening position of the Soviet Union, i. e. the comparative strengthening of the United States' position in international relations.
At the beginning of the Korean War, the United States was keenly concerned about the Soviet Union's participation in the war. Although the powerful Soviet Union had boycotted the Security Council at that time, its influence shadowed the UN meeting and caused some of the neutral countries to revise the resolution text to a softer tone removing harsh words such as “aggression”. The concession made by the United States was a reflection of the critical situation at the Korean front where the South Korean Army was badly defeated by the well-prepared North Korean forces.
On the contrary, when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait on August 1990, U. S. top officials did not have the same worries as they did 40 years ago. The United States had confidence in its own power to deal with Iraq's aggression. And in the end, it did expel Iraqi forces out of Kuwait after a half year's military build up. The ground battle lasted only 4 days compared to the 3 years of the Korean War.
As for the Security Council, the resolution condemning Iraq's invasion was adopted without opposition. Even the Soviet Union agreed to the resolution. At that time, the Soviet Union had to cooperate with the United States because of its internal situation. Yet the Soviet Union opposed use of the word “use of force” in the resolution adopted on 29 November 1990. The word was replaced to “all necessary means” after meetings and conversations between the U. S. and Soviet foreign ministers.
In the Gulf War, the United Nations force was not organized. Because, it is said, the United States wanted to keep a free hand to control the military command. Even if this pattern—the Multinational Froces—is efficient, it is time to consider seriously the future form of UN forces. And in order to prevent a new war, these forces should play the role of “vaccine”.
