How can the UN Security Council contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in times of heightened tensions, global polarisation, and contestation about the principles underlying the international legal and political order? In this Trialogue, experts with diverse geographic, socio-legal, and ideational backgrounds present their perspectives on the Security Council's historic development, its present functions and deficits, and its defining tensions and future trajectories. Three approaches engage with each other: a power-focused approach emphasising the role of China as an emerging actor; an institutionalist perspective exploring how less powerful states, particularly the elected members of the Security Council, exert influence and may strengthen rule-of-law standards; a regionalist perspective investigating how the Security Council as the central actor can cooperate with regional organisations towards maintaining international peace and security.

Table of Contents:

Marxsen, Christian Introduction : The UN Security Council’s Four Defining Fields of Tension (s. 1-17)
Cai, Congyan The UN Security Council: Maintaining Peace during a Global Power Shift (s. 18-108)
Herik, Larissa van den The UN Security Council: A Reflection on Institutional Strength (s. 109-185)
Maluwa, Tiyanjana The UN Security Council: Between Centralism and Regionalism (s. 186-277)
Peters, Anne Conclusion : Power, Procedures, and Periphery: The UN Security Council in the Ukraine War (s. 278-298)