The UN Security Council: From the Cold War to 21st Century - Essay Example

United Nations came into existence with the sole purpose of forging a peaceful relationship amongst the various nations of the world. The failure of League of Nations to avert WWII, forced the victorious countries like USA and UK, to strategise and lay the foundation of an international body that would help maintain peace and cooperation in the world. America and Russia had not joined the League of Nations, but after the WWII, became the most vociferous countries to promote a world body. In 1941, the Atlanta Charter, formulated by United States and UK, stressed the need for disarmament of aggressor states like Germany and Japan. Franklin Roosevelt of US and Winston Churchill of Britain, wanted an international organisation, that would be represented by various countries and governed by a more permanent security system. In 1943, they were joined by Russia and China and proposal for the foundation of United Nations was drafted in 1944 at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington. The initial charter of League of Nations was reformed and modified to incorporate new set of proposals with wider scope. On 24 October 1945, United Nations came into existence with Head Quarters in New York with 51 countries signing the charter. United Nations today has 189 members, representing almost all of the countries of the world which believe in the aims and objectives of the international body and strive for peaceful coexistence with a wider perspective of mutual cooperation for development. United Nation was founded with the main mission of establishing an international order of peace and mutual cooperation among the member countries. The failure of League of Nations in averting the world war two, which had resulted in unprecedented holocaust of human lives and properties, served as a strong motivation for the founding members of United Nations to incorporate guidelines and strategies that would be more effective. The fact that the two most powerful nations like America and Russia had become the founding members went a long way in ensuring the strategic success of the international body. Germany, Italy and Japan, which were hitherto seen as ‘aggressor states’ were also keen for UN membership and strongly advocated for the global peace. United Nations Security Council or UNSC became the most powerful subsidiary to enact basic principles and guidelines to enforce international peace and cooperation promoting mutual dependency and understanding among the nations which not only led to better relationships but also helped in forging a long term process of development and security. The functions and powers of the UNSC that were incorporated, made sure that effective detrimental measures were included that would deter the aggressor states from waging wars against other countries. The promotion of treaties and wide ranging cooperation schedules were initiated by the council, in order to garner support and consensus among the member countries. Non proliferation treaty or NPT as it was widely known and nuclear disarmament processes were started so that all nations including under developed, developing and the developed countries could be persuaded to stop further development of the armaments while at the same time, initiate disarmament process so that futuristic armed battles and wars among the countries could be averted. Several pertinent arms of the United Nations became effective tools for promoting mutual cooperation among the countries and provided neutral platforms to resolve political and socio-economical disputes. The role of different bodies of the United Nations became a formidable international tool to deter impending friction between the nations and which also encouraged countries to forge bilateral ties for peaceful coexistence. United Nations through its various subsidiaries, ensured international peace and security through three main agenda. The initial disagreements and contentious issues between the nations were tried to be discussed and resolved under neutral conditions under the platform of the international bodies and neutral observers. If this failed to resolve the issues amicably and the state became aggressive, the United Nations was empowered to impose economic sanctions against the aggressor state. The main purpose of the economic sanction was to isolate the said country and force it to conform to international covenant of peaceful coexistence. As a last resort, International peacekeeping force and allied forces were used against the erring nation so that weaker country can be protected and sovereign rights of the countries can be upheld. The post cold war scenario drastically altered the equations of the powerful countries. The post cold war era saw the gradual decline of USSR or Russia as a superpower, leaving America with the status of the most powerful nation of the world. Russia, with its changing political status and internal conflicts, was forced to divert its attention from maintaining and countering the growing American influence and impact in the southern hemisphere of the world. As a result, United States became much more powerful and started misusing its emerging status as single superpower. The American war against Vietnam which dragged on for more than 15 years is a classic example of American autocracy in the international arena. The weakening status of Russia and its deteriorating economy had wide ranging ramifications. The United Nations became dominated by the United States which started wielding its power through it. American veto in the Israel-Palestinian and the division over the Kosovo crisis in 1999, highlights the emerging powers of America. Iran-Iraq war, Afghanistan war and in general, the deteriorating conditions in the middle-east, have shown the declining influence of the United Nations. The inability of the United Nations to curtail the growing aggressive nature of American foreign policies, has in effect, weakened the status of United Nations, as an international body whose primary objective is that of keeping the world free of wars and conflicts. The socio political conditions which led to the formation of United Nations in 1945 have changed completely and the new order of the world where terrorism and political rivalry and power games have overcome the more mundane task of maintaining peace and developing. In September of last year, Secretary General Kofi Annan told world leaders that the time had come to choose between maintaining the Charter as drafted after the Second World War or to contemplate enacting radical changes to the international security system (Malone, internet). The fast changing global environment and the emerging globalisation has necessitated the need to reform the charter of the United Nations. The internal conflicts of the nations, all over the world, has been overpowered by a new genre of aggressors called terrorists, who are now holding the whole world to ransom. Apart from this, the emerging new equation of the globalisation has not only redefined the cross cultural values but it has brought forth a new order of the global values which transgresses the national values and local colours. President Gorbochev of Russia in 1988 said in UN assembly "World progress is only possible through a search for universal human consensus as we move forward to a new world order" (Cuddy, internet). It is indeed true that the new world needs a new order and a set of guiding principles which would promote consensus efforts towards problems that have universal implications. Reference Cuddy, D, L. Chronological History of the New World Order. Available from < http://www.constitution.org/col/cuddy_nwo.htm> [September 22, 2007]. Malone, David, M. 2004. The UN Security Council: From The Cold War to 21st Century. Available from < http://www.cceia.org/resources/transcripts/4422.html> [September 22, 2007]. Read More