O Uso da Força por Organizações Regionais

The chapter examines the legal framework governing the use of force by regional organizations within the collective security system established by the United Nations Charter. While the Charter assigns the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security to the Security Council, it also allows regional arrangements and agencies to act under Chapter VIII. The chapter analyzes the ambiguous drafting and institutional relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations, tracing the origins of Chapter VIII to the San Francisco Conference and discusses the distinction between peaceful settlement functions (Article 52) and coercive actions (Article 53). It also examines the exercise of collective self-defense under Article 51, which allows regional organizations to respond to armed attacks through mutual defense treaties such as the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Pact) and the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO). Drawing upon the ICJ’s jurisprudence in the Nicaragua case, the chapter highlights the legal requirement of a formal request for assistance by the attacked state as a condition for collective self-defense. It concludes that recent coordination between the Security Council and regional organizations, particularly in Africa, signals a gradual consolidation of a cooperative model for the use of force in regional contexts.