The dissertation is the first research in Ukrainian international law to be devoted to a comprehensive examination of the issues related to the international legal and organisational framework for collective security in the second half of the XX century and the early XXI century, the specific features of contemporary international legal mechanisms for ensuring such security in Europe within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and the conceptualisation of directions for their modernisation in the context of new threats and challenges.
The study substantiates the thesis regarding the need to revise the concepts of international security that were formed after the Second World War and updated following the end of the Cold War, which entails the development of a broader understanding of international security based on the latest paradigm of collective security, which, in turn, is based on the idea of enhanced international cooperation built on a universal system of values and shared interests.
It is argued that a normative approach to defining the content of collective security is formed on the basis of an “ideal” system or model of collective security that would be suitable for all participants in international relations. However, in practice, the differing political positions of states, as the principal subjects of international law, give rise to variations within the approaches that have been developed and normatively enshrined by the international community.
It has been argued that, in accordance with the UN Charter, the existing architecture of the collective security system is based on the principles of centralisation and hierarchy, under which the leading role is assigned to the UN Security Council, which is vested with exclusive authority to use force to maintain peace and security, as well as on the principle of complementarity, under which regional collective security systems complement the overall model of collective security based on the UN Charter.
The development of regional collective security systems does not indicate a fragmentation of international cooperation among states in this sphere. The diversification of collective security systems has been a significant trend in recent decades, resulting in enhanced collective security that takes account of regional characteristics and challenges. Regional collective security systems are aimed at preventing acts of aggression against their members by developing common conceptual approaches to eliminating threats to peace and security; they provide for closer cooperation between allies in the event of an act of aggression against any member of the system and take into account the specific features of the political, legal and economic development of a particular region.
The collective security system of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is founded primarily on the principle of self-reliance, which is based on the individual capacity of states to withstand armed attack, supplemented by the principle of mutual assistance from other member states of the Alliance
It has been demonstrated that NATO cannot provide any legal, political or effective practical guarantees to member states or partner states regarding their security, as it possesses neither nuclear nor other weapons, nor does it have its own armed forces. Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty does not oblige member states of the collective security system to deploy military forces and assets in the event of an attack on an ally, but merely requires them to take retaliatory measures in one form or another at their own discretion.
An approach has been conceptualised according to which the norms, institutions and mechanisms upon which global security governance has been based since the Second World War are undergoing serious erosion in the XXI century. The United States is effectively relinquishing its role as the chief architect and guarantor of the collective security system in Europe in favour of securing its dominance in the Western Hemisphere and pursuing its interests in Asia through unilateral actions and displays of force, whilst European NATO аllies are forced to develop new strategies to ensure their autonomy in matters of security and defence, and to seek alternative forms of cooperation that do not depend on US leadership.
Peacekeeping is an important operational tool for ensuring collective security. Although this practice is not enshrined in the UN Charter, it has become a vital mechanism for upholding ceasefires and stabilising conflict zones in situations where direct coercive action was politically unfeasible.
