Back in 2001, France floated a proposal that the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5) should voluntarily refrain from using their veto power when dealing with mass-atrocity crimes.
And now, in the lead-up to the commemoration of this year¡¯s 70th anniversary of the U.N., French President Francois Hollande¡¯s government is actively pursuing the idea again. Could such an arrangement really work?
The predictable initial response is to dismiss the possibility out of hand. As Australia¡¯s wartime prime minister, Ben Chifley, once remarked, ¡°The trouble with gentleman¡¯s agreements is that there aren¡¯t enough bloody gentlemen.¡±
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