Crush Liberalism

U.N. arms embargoes worthless

What a shocker.  From AP:

Arms embargoes imposed by the United Nations since 1990 have been effective in only about a fourth of the cases, according to a new study.

The report, compiled by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Uppsala University Special Program on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions, said U.N. arms embargoes have had limited impact on both the compliance of targeted countries and the arms that flow to them.

The study looked at 27 U.N. arms embargoes imposed between 1990 and 2006, including the cases of Iraq, Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as well as African countries such as Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

“There appears to be a correlation between the imposition of a U.N. arms embargo and improved target behavior in only a quarter of the annual observations made for the 27 mandatory U.N. arms embargoes studied,” it said.

This was in spite of the arms embargo being “one of the most frequently used forms of sanctions” to maintain international peace and security, it said.

In other breaking news, water is wet.

November 28, 2007 - Posted by crushliberalism | United Nations