This impressive work sheds light on the recent history of the UN Security Council (UNSC), examining how the penchant for UN-backed humanitarian intervention in the 1990s has given way to an impotent UNSC, unable to play a meaningful role in the war in Iraq. It examines the precepts that govern UNSC politics, including the sanctity of sovereign states, the norm of non-intervention and state interests. Designed for readers who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the workings of the UNSC, the attitudes of its members towards the use of force and sovereignty, as well as understanding its limitations in international politics, this volume: - evaluates key issues such as the principle of consent, the use of force, intervention and sovereignty - provides a rich array of case studies to understand the challenges of consent-based peacekeeping - presents strong analytical consistency drawing on a wide variety of sources