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1 ROWLANDS, MINA SIMON PG/M.Sc/10/57312 UNITED NATIONS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS IN IRAQ, 1990-2003 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCES, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA Political Science UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA 2011 Digitally Signed by Webmaster‟s Name DN : CN = Webmaster‟s name O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka Webmaster OU = Innovation Centre 2 UNITED NATIONS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS IN IRAQ, 1990-2003 BY ROWLANDS, MINA SIMON PG/M.Sc/10/57312 DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA NOVEMBER, 2011 3 TITLE PAGE UNITED NATIONS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS IN IRAQ, 1990-2003 BY ROWLANDS, MINA SIMON PG/M.Sc/10/57312 A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.Sc) IN POLITICAL SCIENCE (INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS). NOVEMBER, 2011 4 APPROVAL PAGE THIS PROJECT REPORT HAS BEEN APPROVED ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. BY ………………………………….. …………………………………. DR. A.M.N. OKOLIE PROF. OBASI IGWE (PROJECT SUPERVISOR) (HEAD OF DEPARTMENT) ……………………………….. .……………………………… PROF. E.O. EZEANI EXTERNAL EXAMINER (DEAN OF FACULTY) 5 DEDICATION This Work Is Dedicated to the Memory of My Late-Mother, Mrs. Abowari Innocent Rowlands, who laid the foundation for my academic pursuits; but unfortunately could not live to see me get to this level. 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In carrying out this research, a lot of individuals contributed immensely, and as such they deserve to be acknowledged. Profound gratitude is expressed to my very amiable and competent supervisor, Dr A.M.N. Okolie; who painstakingly perused the manuscripts, pointed out errors, made incisive and invaluable inputs, as well as challenged me to work harder. He is indeed an erudite scholar and I am very proud to have worked under his tutelage. Of equal prominence for their inspirational support are my family members. To my Father, Mr. Innocent Rowlands, who bore the financial burden of the entire enterprise; I will say that “He is indeed the best Father on the Planet.” To my Uncle and his Wife, Engr. & Mrs. Joshua Alalibo; Mr. Benneth Rowlands; Mr. Sunday Rowlands; Mrs. Belema Edekobi and Mrs. Happiness Zudonu; for their unparalleled support and encouragement. My sincere gratitude extends to Mrs. Victoria O. Pase, who played a Motherly Figure in my life and whose words of encouragement spurred me on. Sometimes I felt like giving-up, but her motivational words kept me going. May God bless her! I also acknowledge in a very special way the support received from my friends: Goodhead Uranta, Joseph Tom, Jini Ralph, Sam Onyia Chikeluba, Lydia Augustine (a.k.a. Ebinorival), Donny Chukwunyere, Malik Ihuoma and Daniel Ken Benson. Finally and most importantly, my utmost gratitude goes to God Almighty, who gave me life and made this entire enterprise A DREAM COME TRUE. 7 ABSTRACT Acts of aggression, global terrorism, abuse of human rights and recently the lack of democracy; are behaviours that pose threats to international peace and security. In 1945, the United Nations Organisation (U.N.O.) was created to handle these acts and is also mandated to invoke the tool of economic sanctions against an erring member - state so as to restore sanity and preserve world peace. Between 1990 – 2003, economic sanctions were imposed on Iraq (for its invasion of Kuwait as well as claims of its possession of nuclear weapons) by the United Nations Security Council (U.N.S.C.). Using the Marxian Political Economy Theory, the study tried to find out: (1) whether the use of comprehensive economic sanctions as international punitive measure has reduced the incidence of global terrorism; (2) if the UN collective security mechanism in Iraq enhances international security; and (3) if there is any link between the U.S. perception of its national security and UN imposition of sanctions in Iraq. Through the use of observation method of data collection (i.e. using secondary sources of data), the study found out that international sanctions management is bedevilled by power – politics; and so the extent to which global super -powers have their economic interests at stake in particular acts of illegality, determine whether or not sanctions will result; and if they do, the extent to which they are effective in achieving the United Nations‟ set objectives. To ameliorate the situation, the study recommends among others that: (1) the use of “targeted” or “smart” sanctions in place of comprehensive sanctions by the UN; (2) increasing the number of relief organizations and relief workers that the UN allows to enter a country in times of such sanctions. This is due to the fact that these relief workers and organizations could do a lot to spread aid to more people in such situations, thus, reducing the level of humanitarian disaster.,etc. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Approval Page ii Dedication iii Acknowledgement iv Abstract v Table of Contents vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Statement of Problem 4 1.2 Objectives of the Study 7 1.3 Significance of the Study 8 1.4 Literature Review 9 1.5 Theoretical Framework 24 1.6 Hypotheses 30 1.7 Method of Data Collection 30 1.8 Method of Data Analysis 31 CHAPTER TWO: ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND THE INCIDENCE OF GLOBAL TERRORISM 2.1 Origin and causes of the Iraq-Kuwait crisis 32 2.2 United Nations comprehensive economic sanctions in Iraq 41 2.3 Impacts of UN comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq 54 2.4 The effectiveness of comprehensive sanctions on Dictatorships 61 2.5 Comprehensive economic sanctions and the incidence of global terrorism 64 9 CHAPTER THREE: UNITED NATIONS COLLECTIVE SECURITY MECHANISM AND GLOBAL INSECURITY 3.1 Iraqi threat to global security 71 3.2 United Nations Collective Security Mechanism in the Iraq-Kuwait crisis 75 3.3 UN enforcement of Collective Security and the role of Hegemonic powers in Iraq 82 3.4 United Nations Security Council‟s disunity over the sanctions in Iraq 88 CHAPTER FOUR: AMERICA‟S NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE UNITED NATIONS‟ SANCTIONS IN IRAQ 4.1 Meaning and conceptualization of National Security 104 4.2 National Security and the rationale behind Iraq‟s invasion and violation of Kuwait‟s Sovereignty 107 4.3 United States National Interests in the Middle-East 110 4.4 Establishment of U.S. military base in the Gulf 124 4.5 UN intervention and enforcement of sanctions in Iraq 128 4.6 The defense of United States‟ National Security in Iraq 133 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 151 Bibliography 155 10 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION The United Nations Organisation (U.N.O.) officially came into existence on 24 October,1945 as a result of the inability of the League of Nations to curb the outbreak of a Second World War. The primary aim of the Organisation is to arrest all forms of acrimonious and aggressive acts that could jeopardize global peace and security, as well as facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace (Oche, 2004). Iraq, which became a member of the United Nations on December 21, 1945; invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990 citing the following reasons: That Kuwait had extracted oil from a pool beneath the Iraq – Kuwait border that belonged to Iraq; That Kuwait purposely saturated the petrol market with large supplies of oil, thereby keeping oil‟s spot market price low (low oil prices rendered Iraq unable to pay the massive debt it had accrued during the Iran – Iraq war); and That the borders drawn for it (Iraq) by Britain, after the fall of the Ottoman empire, unjustly deprived her of territorial seas (Mac Ogonor, 2000: 24). On August 6, 1990, (four days after Iraq invaded Kuwait), the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq to pressure her to leave. This is in line with the United Nations Charter (chapter VII) which states that the Security Council can take enforcement measures to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such 11 measures range from economic and /or other sanctions not involving the use of armed force to international military action (Obiozor, 1995). However, in March,1991 after Iraq had been forced out of Kuwait by a U.S - led coalition force in „Operation Desert Storm‟, the sanctions took on a new purpose. The sanction which is embodied in the U.N. Resolution 687 called for : The elimination of Iraq‟s Weapons of Mass Destruction; Iraq‟s recognition of the Sovereignty of Kuwait; and Iraq to comply with the cease – fire terms and payment of reparation to Kuwait (Gilbert, 2004:18). On May 22, 2003, the United Nations Security Council (U.N.S.C) voted to lift the sanctions after Saddam Hussein‟s regime had been toppled. The vote was 14 to 1 (with Syria abstaining) (Alnasrawi, 2004:29). But the passing of this resolution was also controversial in the sense that: 1. In the past, the United States and Britain, primarily had been most vocal in maintaining sanctions in Iraq, but now, they were the main drivers to lift them; showing the political power both nations wield in the international arena; 2. While the political issues in this resolution were hardly presented in the Bristish media; some 150 peace organisations and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) from around the world protested the resolution for virtually legitimizing the U.S. – led invasion of Iraq and endorsing the foreign occupation of a U.N. member – state; and 3. It did not specify the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in declaring Iraq free of weapons of mass destruction; it did not end the U.N.