The book offers insights on whether international law can shape the politics of the Security Council and conversely, the extent to which the latter contribute to the development of international law. By providing a systematic analysis of the quantity and quality of international legal instruments referred to in the text of resolutions, the book reconstructs patterns of the Security Council's behavioural regularities and assesses them against the provisions of the United Nations Charter, which establishes its mandate. The analysis is divided into three periods - the origins and Cold War period, post-Cold War period and the twenty-first century - and assesses the resolutions passed in each period by thematic category. The book argues that while international law plays an important role in shaping the politics of the Security Council, the Council's resolutions do not contribute significantly to the development of international law.
"The study demonstrates the bias of the SC towards international terrorism and protection of women, children and civilians, and its ignorance of other issues. The book also shows the benefit of combin-ing empirical with normative work in international law, as it uses the data to propose a new theory of self-imposed duties in a few areas, which 'may redefine the very idea of international peace and security'. ... overall the book definitively sets out a path worth following." (The European Journal of International Law, Vol. 28 (1), 2017)