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The Absolutely Indispensable Man: Ralph Bunche, the United Nations, and the Fight to End Empire. By Kal Raustiala. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. Pp. xi, 569. Index.

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The Absolutely Indispensable Man: Ralph Bunche, the United Nations, and the Fight to End Empire. By Kal Raustiala. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. Pp. xi, 569. Index.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2024

Blanca Montejo
Blanca Montejo*
Affiliation:
UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Security Council Affairs Division
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Type
Book Reviews
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 118 , Issue 1 , January 2024 , pp. 205 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Society of International Law

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Footnotes

*

The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.

References

1 Brian Urquhart, Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey (1993).

2 Despite the polarization among Council members (see verbatim records of the 292nd and 293rd meetings of the Security Council, S/PV.292 and S/PV.293), the Security Council met in connection with this item a total of nineteen times only in May 1948.

3 The Security Council used its prerogative foreseen in Article 20 of the UN Charter to call a special session of the General Assembly (see Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, 1946–51, United Nations, Department of Political and Security Council Affairs, at 484–85). This is a largely unused feature in contemporary practice. Instead, in 1950, the General Assembly would pass Resolution 377 (V), also known as “Uniting for Peace,” to address the Council's paralysis and, in 2022, the Assembly would adopt Resolution 76/262, also known as the “Veto Initiative,” to scrutinize the use of the veto by the permanent members.

4 Against this situation, for the first time in the history of the UN, the Council would call an emergency special session under the aegis of the Assembly's “Uniting for Peace” Resolution.

5 In October 2022, the UN Legal Counsel offered a candid account of the boundaries of Article 100 of the UN Charter. See Verbatim Record of the 9167th Meeting of the Security Council, at 2–4, UN Doc. S/PV.9167 (Oct. 26, 2022).

6 Raustiala makes deserved reference in endnote to Ambassador Kimani's speech in February 2022, days before the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. See Verbatim Record of the 8970th Meeting of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/PV.8970 (Feb. 21, 2022).