The United Nations and the Rationale for Collective Intelligence ...

application of objects such as intelligence that may not necessarily be compatible in manners that are in conformity with the system. A condition of feasibility can be met if the rules prescribed by the organisation are found to be compatible either at the individual or group level.⁴ Hence, the solution concepts developed to explore this argument will necessitate a need to draw on existing provisions of the rules, their theoretical provisions, and how they are adapted and applied in practice.

Although the idea of a UN intelligence system itself is not entirely new, the revival of the concept and the urgency attached to it has emerged out of the many trends in the study of international relations, especially since the end of the Cold War. Among these are the evolving nature of the global system of states and the proliferation of discourses and texts attempting to explain and describe order and security in the system. For the UN, emphasis is given to its changing role in world security and the need to embrace new and emerging realities.⁵ This development, among others, had involved a redefinition of a previously narrow focus and a traditional interpretation of security within the context of military intervention and peacekeeping, as well as taking on board issues of economic and social significance.⁶ This has also meant a shift from roles defined by armed conflicts to a more comprehensive and holistic approach in the notion of collective security, embracing those barely noticeable but essential social roles that have been thought to be outside the organisation's mandates.

This shift in perspective has prompted the obvious question of how an intelligence system fits in with these developments and to what extent it adds to debates about the nature and future of international system and world order. It has also been tempting to ask whether an intelligence system is strictly necessary in the work of the UN. In fact, even before attempting to engage with these questions, it should also be necessary to consider whether the UN already possesses an intelligence capability of sorts, or something close to it, and if so, why this is not explicitly stated. Some tentative and brief answers to these questions are possible. With regards to the latter, it can be said (for the moment) that since there is no coherent theory on intelligence, it would be difficult to give a precise