THE GULF CRISIS, THE UN, AND THE NEW-WORL D ORDER

The article throws light on the UN role in the Gulf crisis. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, was a clear-cut breach of intern ational law and there was no doubt that the UN Security Council had a formal reason for acting. However, formalities alone cannot explain th e commitment and activity performed by the SC members in this particul ar crisis. The 12th resolution of the Iraq-Kuwait crisis authorized th e use of ''all necessary means''. Thus it represented the closest the organization has come in using the system of economic and military san ctions according to the Charter. The article is concentrated on the qu estions of why the members of the Security Council were able to find c onsensus in taking these measures, and how the UN system functioned du ring the crisis.