RULES ON INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY IN THE LIGHT OF RELATIONS AMONG GREAT POWERS

Trapara Vladimir (Diplomirani politikolog – specijalista za međunarodnu politiku), vtrapara@yahoo.com

Historically, the rules on international peace and security have always depended on the international structure system and relations among great powers. It was through the UN Charter and permanent membership in the Security Council that the end of World War II brought back to life the idea of great powers “concert”, which had been previously launched at the Vienna congress. Such an international legal and institutional arrangement has remained up to the present days in spite of some substantial changes in the international system. As a result of this, the informal hierarchy “contracts” took an advantage over the formal rules of international law, especially in interpreting the right to self-determination during and after the Cold war. The recent diminishing of the American power and the rise of other great powers, especially Russia, once again opens the question in what direction the international peace and security order are going to.

Keywords: peace, security, rules, order, hierarchy, great powers, selfdetermination, (non)intervention