n a sweeping series of debates and actions aimed at countering new and persistent threats to international peace and security, the Security Council in 2004 remained resolute in tackling such intractable challenges as suppressing global terrorist threats, protecting civilians in armed conflict, and building peace in societies shattered by war, including by disarming former combatants, upending post-war cultures of impunity, and providing electoral assistance.
The Council convened 189 formal meetings, adopting 59 resolutions and issuing 48 presidential statements. The veto was used three times, once by the Russian Federation on the question of Cyprus, and twice by the United States in respect of the Middle East.
Ongoing crises in the Middle East, including Iraq, outbreaks of hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Darfur, as well as stubborn pockets of resistance in Afghanistan and renewed ethnic tensions in Kosovo, topped the Council’s agenda as it strove to reinforce its central role in the present turbulent era. It responded to the surge in demand for peacekeeping as violent internal conflicts engulfed millions of civilians, drawing in neighbouring countries and posing ever-widening threats to international peace and security.
By authorizing the establishment of missions in Burundi, Haiti, Côte d’Ivoire and the Sudan, the Council brought to 16 the total number of United Nations peace operations worldwide. Seeking to address the problems confronting failed or failing States and prevent their relapse into conflict, it created missions that were multidimensional in nature, dealing with all aspects of peacekeeping and nation-building, from ceasefire enforcement and the disarmament of former combatants to economic reconstruction and the restoration of rule of law.
Particularly preoccupying was the question of the Middle East, one of the most enduring diplomatic challenges of the past half-century. Assessments of the Israeli-Palestinian situation varied little each month, with the prevailing view expressed to the Council by senior Secretariat officials that neither party was doing its part to end the bloodshed and hasten the path towards peace. The December 2003 announcement by Israel’s Prime Minister of his intention to withdraw the military and settlements from the Gaza Strip also shaped their briefings, as did the death of Yasser Arafat in November. Towards the end of the year, the so-called post-Arafat era and the anticipated elections in January 2005 for a new Palestinian Authority President prompted fresh analysis of the situation.
Deepening unrest in Iraq and the spate of increasingly brutal attacks in Baghdad and outlying cities since the start of April formed the difficult backdrop for some positive political developments, including the establishment of an Interim Government and a National Independent Electoral Commission, as well as the handover of sovereignty on 30 June. One year after establishing the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Council extended its mandate in August following a recommendation by the Secretary-General to implement the mandate “as circumstances permit”.
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