By Eslam Abdelmagid Eid
The phenomenon of international territorial administration is a relatively old phenomenon that appeared in the nineteenth century.
As example, the Polish city of Krakow, in the nineteenth century, was administered by Austria, Russia and Prussia, meanwhile in the twentieth century the city of Danzing was under the administration of three countries, namely Britain, France and Spain, with the approval of the League of Nations. The city of Trieste in 1947 was placed under the administration of the UN Security Council. But it was mainly during the past two decades that the phenomenon developed. In 1999, during the conflicts that existed at the time in Kosovo and East Timor, the international administration was no longer applied to cities, but to regions where the states proved unable to control them. Therefore the United Nations began to carry out the process of managing these territories as an alternative to the local government. So the administration appointed by the United Nations often took controls the three main authorities in the region (executive, legislative and judicial), with the primary mission i to restore security and political and social stability to the region, and then rebuild the region to build a new strong state, with an international sovereignty and legitimacy.
The basis for the emergence of this phenomenon goes back to the post-Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. The transformation of the global system, from a bipolar system to a unilateral system led by a superpower, the United States of America, changed the model of conflict in the world, from
bilateral conflicts between states to internal conflicts. The result, the individual become the main unit of analysis in international relations instead of the state, especially with the emergence of globalization and the world’s transformation of what is called the global village.
These internal conflicts have caused mass ethnic genocides, especially in the countries of the former Yugoslav Federation, in the territory of Kosovo. Therefore the United Nations , to legitimize the international intervention in Kosovo, established the concept known as humanitarian intervention, in order to protect human rights, and put an end to grave violations that would affect peace and coexistence among the peoples of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious region.
Defining the international administration of territories
Since the emergence of the concept there is still a state of controversy over a unified definition for it. The definitions explaining the phenomenon of international administration of territories have multiplied.
Richard Kaplan’s definition (in his book, which was published in 2005 with the title International Governance of War-Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction):
“An international body officially formed, with the responsibility of assuming the basic functions of governing the state or region temporarily, representing the international administration in the context of peacebuilding, and considered an international response to the internal conflict where the conflicting parties are unable to reach a sound settlement.”
Kaplan also presented in his book six basic functions of international administration of territories, including:
1- Establishing and maintaining public order by assuming responsibility for law enforcement, organizing and training local police, developing laws and preserving the independence and sovereignty of the judicial institution.
2- Providing humanitarian assistance to those affected by conflicts and internal conflicts.
3- Working on the return of refugees and displaced persons to their areas, melting them down and integrating them into the new society, which is based on protecting freedoms and human rights.
4- Performing the main administrative and civil functions in the region, and working in a flexible and dynamic framework, away from bureaucracy that is tainted by stagnation.
5- Development of local political institutions in the region, which includes preparing for democratic elections that are characterized by integrity and transparency, and building an effective civil society that can present the people’s demands more clearly to the new government.
6- Restructuring the local economy and building it again on sound foundations, in addition to supporting the process of economic development and providing the necessary ingredients for that.
Ralph Wilde’s definition ( in his book published in 2008 and titled International Territorial Administration: How Trusteeship and the Civilizing Mission Never Went Away):
“A strategic mechanism through which international actors (international organizations) exercise control and rule in a specific region by playing the role of local government in the region.”
Carsten Stan’s definition:
Stan defines the International Administration as: “The exercise of the international territorial government of a region, subject to international supervision, for the purpose of humanitarian and social assistance to the population.
From above we can conclude that the international administration for the territories is a UN military and civilian presence representing an administration appointed by the United Nations, with the aim of bringing security and stability to the region, and promote its reconstruction, through intensifying international efforts to reform the economy, develop political institutions, and develop civil society organizations, to ensure a sound democratic environment, and protect the human rights, in the context of seeking to achieve the third stage of conflict resolution, which is peacebuilding, in response to countries affected by conflict for being politically and militarily impotent.
The legal framework for the work of the International Administration of Territories
The Charter of the United Nations includes many texts that are the legal basis for establishing the international administration of territories:
1- According to Article 11 of the United Nations Charter, the United Nations General Assembly can establish an international administration for a territory, subject to the approval of the country concerned, and the General Assembly has the right to discuss any issue related to the protection of international peace and security submitted to it by any member of the United Nations or Council International security, as well as making recommendations regarding these issues to members of the United Nations or the Security Council, or both, but the General Assembly is not authorized to decide to launch military action in accordance with the same Article
2- Chapter Six of the Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to recommend the necessary methods and procedures for settling international disputes, also subject to the approval of the concerned state, taking into account that to the Security Council is prohibited from taking any action that conflicts with the internal jurisdiction of the concerned state, except with the express consent of the state. This text comes under Article 40 of the Charter, which determines the work of the UN Security Council in the event that the internal conflict parties reject the measures set by the Security Council.
But if we look at Article 42 of the Charter, we will find something like a contradiction with Chapter Six, as this article authorizes the UN Security Council to impose the necessary arrangements to settle international disputes without the consent of the concerned state and by coercive methods that include the military and non-military sides, in the event that the Council sees Security that the conflict represents a threat or breach of international peace and security, and if it is proved that Article 41 did not fulfill the purpose, in this case the Security Council may establish an international administration for the region.
In view of the Kosovo situation, the UN Security Council, in its Resolution No. 1244 of June 10, 1999, authorized the Secretary-General the right to establish an international presence in Kosovo, to be represented by the United Nations Transitional Administration Mission in the region, with the aim of providing an interim administration through which the Kosovar people would have self-administration, The Security Council has empowered the mission over the territory and people of Kosovo, with its three powers (executive, legislative and judicial), which means that the international administration here follows the exclusive governance process due to placing all governmental tasks on the shoulders of the international actor, which continued in Kosovo for more than 8 years, due to ambiguity of objectives of the international administration, and a not clear vision for the future of the region.
From here we find that the phenomenon of international administration of regions is based on the legal foundations stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations, and it also includes several principles that clarify the nature of this administration and its system of work, but we also notice a contradiction in the way of dealing with the establishment of international administration, whether by the United Nations General Assembly or the Security Council: the establishment f the international administration without the request of the affected region could represent a violation of the sovereignty and of the rights of the people of the region.
The obstacles that hinder the work of the international administration of territories
1- Insufficient implementation of the international administration:
Before the UN Security Council makes a decision to establish an international administration, this administration must be fully aware of the region’s needs, its political and social conditions, and the time frame for this administration’s existence, which is necessary to ensure the democratic handover of power, and this should be stipulated in the mandate of the UN Security Council or the General Assembly of the Nations. United. This in order not to repeat what happened in Kosovo, in which the handover of power was postponed to 2008, the year in which Kosovo’s independence was recognized, despite the continuous promises to give the region its independence since the declaration of the international administration in 1999, due to the desire of Serbia,and its ally Russia, to not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
2- Extent of the delegation of authority to the international administration:
A broad mandate for the administration may increase the possibility that the administration will commit mistakes and transgressions against the citizens of the region. The administration’s ruling over the three state authorities will place it in the position of authoritarian governments, which will therefore make the relationship between the administration and the people of the region in question. The general confidence of the international community in what the United Nations provides in terms of solutions to disputes and conflicts and in the nature of the work of the international administration of territories.
3- Lack of legal accountability of the international administration:
The seventh chapter, which provides for the possibility of invoking the opinion of the Security Council without having recourse to the opinion of the State competent to intervene in case of need. The article here lacks legal clarifications on the alleged supervisory role on the work of the international administration, which makes the human rights protection process in which the Security Council intervenes questionable. Which exposes it to criticism by some as an occupation in a new form under the name of democracy, and forcing countries to follow the Western style of government, which may not be compatible with the case of some countries, especially if these countries are multi ethnic and religious, as happened in Iraq after the American occupation in 2003. Iraq still suffers from the principles of the constitution that Paul Bremer (the former civilian governor of Iraq) contributed to, which led to the situation in the country as a prey to quotas and sectarian conflicts that have killed thousands of Iraqis and made a country with the second largest oil reserves in the world into an economically collapsed country, with high unemployment and with the state unable to pay wages to its employees.
4-The pressure from great powers to the international administration:
As happened in Kosovo, there has been strong American and Western pressure on the region to merge with Western liberal principles and a free capitalist economy, as pointed out by White House Balkan Adviser Charles Engels, who stated in the 2008 that: “The determination of the final status of Kosovo must be based on what the Kosovar institutions have implemented in terms of the implementation of the Western standards that have been set for them”. However, no significant economic and social development has occurred in the region.
Conclusion:
There is no doubt that the UN Charter includes many texts that establish the legitimacy of establishing an international administration for the territories. Rather, the customary rules of general international law oblige the international community to intervene to resolve and resolve the conflict, especially if it would pose a threat to the state of international peace and security, and could constitute a clear violation of human rights.
Returning to the theory of competences, international organizations can initiate implicit responsibilities that are not written in the organisation’s charter, when this is necessary to achieve the objectives of the organization, as stipulated in Article 2 (7) of the United Nations Charter . Consequently, the international organization can intervene in the internal affairs of the state that violates human rights and the principles of international law.
However, despite this, we believe that the articles stipulating the work of the International Administration of the Regions remain surrounded by ambiguity, as they do not provide clear time limits for its work and do not give sufficient information on the nature of the situation in which it finds itself. state, which makes his job very complicated.
Going back to the times of the emergence of this phenomenon, we find that it was subject to the whims and control of the most powerful nation of the time, namely the United States and its Western allies, particularly in the period from the late 1990s, and the beginning of the new millennium, just as it was used in Kosovo to spread Western values and introduce the region into the context of the global capitalist system. Alongside this was a bigger goal: the dismantling of the former Communist Yugoslavia, and then the division of Serbia, the heir to the Yugoslav federation, as Kosovo was actually a province of Serbia, and this can be one of the reasons, no doubt, of the strong relationship between Serbia and Russia, Washington’s most important opponent.
But in the end, it is not possible to underestimate the role of the international administration of territories as a fundamental factor that embodies the concept of humanitarian intervention, in order to stop the bloody conflicts and ethnic exterminations, which could surely lead to undermining international stability, and to assist failed states and regions, after the end of a conflict, to complete the peace-building process, to advance the economic development and to achieve a solid political system based on participation and peaceful coexistence.
Author: Eslam Abdelmagid Eid (Academic, political researcher, and specialist in Middle East affairs)
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)