The idea that wars are evil, and that it is necessary to maintain order with all our might and prevent armed clashes, has visited various representatives of the human race since ancient times. Attempts to create a system of collective security in Europe began in the 19th century.
What is a collective security system
The collective security system is the joint actions of all the states that make up it, aimed at supporting world peace, as well as suppressing aggression. This system includes several components.
First, it is based on the generally accepted principles of international law, of which the most important are the statements about the inviolability of borders and the territorial integrity of all states, as well as the fact that one cannot interfere in other people's internal affairs, especially using force.
Secondly, these are collective measures from all states in the system, directed against acts of aggression and threats to peace. Thirdly, these are disarmament measures, and ideally, bringing all states to complete disarmament.
Collective security systems have the right to take actions of a military nature aimed at pacifying aggression.
European Collective Security Systems: Past and Present
At various times in Europe, attempts were made to create various systems of collective security, and at the moment the most serious of them can be considered the formation of the UN, which belongs to the global systems.
In recent decades, after two devastating world wars and the invention of extremely effective weapons of mass destruction, the need to create a collective security system has become more acute than ever.
The first theoretical projects on the system of international collective security were proposed back in the 18th century, and since then the ideas have been constantly improving, but "eternal peace" does not come.
In 1919, the League of Nations was created, which was to become a system of collective security. But it had a flaw from the very beginning: the system did not have a mechanism against the fight against aggression. The Second World War showed the entire inconsistency of this system.
After her in 1945, the United Nations was created. The sad features of the previous system of collective security were taken into account. Currently, the UN is truly capable of becoming the basis for creating an effective security system. UN activities, according to the charter, should be based on regional peacekeeping organizations. It was assumed that in this way the problems could be solved in the simplest way.
Attempts to create a UN-based collective security system have been made for many decades. Mutual claims of European states to each other, and in many respects, the tension in relations with the USSR, constantly served as a stumbling block in many issues that could not be agreed upon.
In 1973, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was held in Helsinki. The views of 35 states on the creation of a collective security system were discussed. In 1975, agreements were reached on a number of issues. In 1991, a decision was taken to establish a CSCE Dispute Settlement Mechanism. Since then, the meetings and negotiations have not stopped, but a new system of collective security in Europe that meets the requirements put forward to it does not yet exist.
