Symposium

• Howse, Robert

Abstract

In commenting on the articles by Craven and O'Connell, the author challenges the validity of the internationalist fantasy of an effective UN‐based collective security system in the post‐Cold War world. He characterizes the Security Council‐imposed sanctions against Iraq as an effort to give the appearance of doing something while avoiding the more difficult, but likely more effective choice of seeking to destroy the regime of Saddam Hussein through massive military intervention. He concludes with an appeal for clarity concerning the objectives of sanctions, whether punishment for past wrongs or as a way to influence future behaviour.