I wanted to refresh my memory on what happened in Libya in 2011. Well, to actually understand the factions and politics is well beyond my relatively limited grasp of geography and history. But as I was thinking about violations of sovereignty by UN Security Council members (of which the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russian invasions of Ukraine are blatant examples), it occurred to me that 3 of the 5 permanent Security Council members (the U.S., France, and UK) were involved in this action. So if it was illegal, that would mean that 4 of 5 permanent Security Council members (all except China!) have been involved in illegal invasions of sovereign countries in the recent past.

But if we take Wikipedia as an authoritative source, there was a Security Council resolution that authorized a NATO “no-fly zone” (aka bombing campaign) in Libya, and what was done fell within the resolution. Russia and China abstained from that vote. So I am going to classify it as legal whether ill-advised or not. I think Russia can legitimately point to the U.S. Iraq invasion as a “whatabout” relevant to its invasion of Ukraine, but I don’t think it can point to Libya.

I guess my point here is that the relevance of the Security Council seems to have declined greatly, and maybe you can trace the beginning of its decline to the U.S. Iraq invasion. Whether it can be brought back to relevance, or whether the Ukraine invasion is the final nail in its coffin, remains to play out. But if the members want to save it, it would seem that some commitment and effort would be required, and I don’t see many signs of that happening.