Prestige of the UN in Its International Actions - Essay Example

I. Introduction The United Nation’s entry into the 21st century raised many questions questioning its effectiveness, if not its relevance, in fulfilling its mandate to its member nations. Recent years have seen the diminishing prestige of the UN in its international actions. It had been accused of weakness in the face of various global conflicts. It had also been continuously involved in the internal turmoil experienced by many countries. It had been branded as an instrument for the promotion of interests of powerful nations, which are mostly members of its Security Council. The UN had been criticized for being weak in the light of its growing responsibilities in the globalized world. With the advent of a new playing field brought about by a post-9/11 world, doubts on the capacity of the UN to fulfill its mandate is further amplified. Looking back at history, the incapacity of the League of Nations also resulted in its dissolution. Will the UN meet the same fate? Is it such that the great International Government Organizations (IGOs) such as the League of Nations before and the UN today, are incapable of accomplishing the goals for which they were founded? Or to use the words of de Gaulle, “is the UN (or any other IGO) a gimmick that should not be relied upon as a useful institution in political decision making” II. Thesis and Antithesis There are numerous criticisms facing the UN. Some of these criticisms are based on historical experiences undergone by the defunct League of Nations. Other criticisms and serious doubts are brought about by apparent impotencies exhibited by the UN in the light of its apparent failures. This paper aims to show that IGOs will for some time be sensitive and responsive to the unique circumstances of their member countries. However, this paper also argues that the inequities among member countries will also be the cause of the failures encountered by IGOs, and thus negate any possibility that an IGO can transform itself throughout long periods to effectively respond to changing times and circumstances.. B. The League of Nations By the end of World War I, the Allies established the League of Nations to safeguard global peace and prevent the occurrence of another destructive conflict. Among its actions was the institution of the Mandate System with the intent that “more advanced” countries would be given the responsibility to prepare native populations for self government. However noble the mandate was in theory, it was also seen as a means of dividing the “spoils” of World War I among the victors. Based on Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, it gives a wide range of authority and wide latitude in their exercise, among mandate powers in relation to preparing local populations for eventual self rule. However, the failure of the League and its eventual dissolution was also underlined by the failure of this mandate system. The Mandate of Palestine of 1922 was borne out of the colonial designs of the British and French on the Middle East. Britain acquired Palestine, the Transjordan and Iraq, while France got Syria. It also embodied the promises these two European powers made to the Arabs and the Zionists, which eventually led to conflict. British encouragement of Zionist actions during the early years of the mandate led to increasing conflict between the Jewish immigrants and their Arab neighbors. As the Second World War loomed and the British recognized the importance of Arab support, they shifted their favors towards the Arabs at the expense of the Jewish communities who were now concentrated in fortified strongholds. As violence increased, the British decided to abandon Palestine, leaving the settlement of the Jewish question among the Zionists and Arabs. The French did not want to hand over power to the Muslims of Syria in a manner that they may be thought of giving up their traditional policy of protecting the Christians of the Levant. Urban populations and those of the educated Syrian elite were also demanding that Syria become independent and that Lebanon, Palestine, Transjordan, aside from the Druze and Alawite districts, become part of it. Rebels among the Druze and the nationalists led to open hostilities which did not subside until 1927. Individual interests of the dominant nations of the time became the primary cause of the failure and extinction of the League of Nations. It seems that the same problems are also present today, raising threats to the authority, credibility and capability of the United Nations. C. The United Nations The Security Council is the United Nations. Its responsibility of securing international peace and security makes it the most important component of the UN. Among its activities in the last few decades were the undertaking of military operations, imposition of economic sanctions, inspecting armaments, monitoring human rights abuses and observing electoral exercises among UN member countries (Global Policy Forum, July 13, 2005). The responsibility of maintaining international security is the main concern of the Security Council. It was designed to undertake decisive action in addressing and removing world threats. Its five permanent members, The permanent members, the United States, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, France, and China were given veto powers in exchange for the additional responsibility of promoting global security. There are also ten other member countries which are elected to two-year terms. The years have seen the changes in the threats and challenges confronted by the world and the redistribution of power among the Council’s members. The decisions made by the Assembly must be backed by the military, political and financial support of other States. Without their backing, the Council’s actions can be rendered impotent. However, the Council had been slow to adapt to these changes. Decisions were often lacking in decisiveness, were not realistic enough to properly address the challenges, and resources are often insufficient to meet the demands. The Secretary General often had to plea to members states for their support for Security Council decisions (Ikenberry 2004). Among the weaknesses often cited is the membership of the Security Council itself which is a reflection of the power structure prevailing after World War II. The permanent members of the UNSC during the years following the end of World War II may have been adequate since the UN only had 50 members then. However, the UN now represents 191 countries. There are two contentions for expanding membership to the UNSC: 1) The UNSC will be more legitimate in their representation of the UN member nations; 2) Countries that contribute significantly to the UN budget and its peacekeeping activities can play bigger roles and have their voices heard in world affairs (Citizens for Global Solutions Fact Sheet 2005). According to Mogami (2005), Professor of Peace Studies at the International Christian University wrote, “Restructuring of the Security Council is needed, I believe, because the principles guiding its composition are outmoded. In particular, the basis for the selection of its permanent members has lost any sense of reality and legitimacy.” Another argument for reform is that although the United Nations Charter declares that all member nations are equal with each other and that each has one vote in the General Assembly and all other UN councils and committees, this is not observed but ignored especially in the UNSC. Since all other committees within the UN have either general or rotating membership, the UNSC alone has permanent membership which results in inequity between the five nations permanently occupying seats in the Council and the other constituent members of the UN as a whole (KarunaKaran 2003). KarunKaran (2003) also observed that the UNSC is the only body in the UN which can formulate its own rules without seeking approval from the General Assembly. Thus, the UNSC is responsible for fostering inequity among members of the UN despite wider cooperation between the five permanent members in the post-Cold War era. As an example, the UN failed to act accordingly to prevent the widespread genocide that happened in Rwanda between April and June 1994. Although UN presence was evident, the poorly equipped military forces from developing countries lacked the political and financial support of the powerful member nations of the UN which resulted in the death of 800,000 people. The same ineffectiveness and resultant negative effect on the prestige of the UN occurred during the Bosnian crisis when the United States refused to interfere along with other UN forces. Reisman (2005) contends that the real crisis to the UN was not the need to expand the UNSC, but the insistence of the United States to use military force unilaterally. The UN Charter does not allow states to use force unless it is undertaken in self defense, which does not require approval from the UNSC. The Charter specifies that it should be an armed attack. However, the U.S. contends that the only effective action against terrorists is to constantly be on the offensive, which could be considered as preemptive measures or acts of self defense. U.S. insistence and UN policy thus places each other on a collision course. Falk (1999) cites that problematic leadership in the United Nations and specifically the UNSC arises from U.S. dominance in the international body which remains unchallenged. It uses the UN to support U.S. foreign policy instead of providing the momentum for reform. He further adds that U.S. unilateralist attitude is evident after 9/11, as the Bush administration creates an international coalition and agenda, to implement its global security policies. Bush’s accusation that Iraq, Iran and North Korea have weapons of mass destruction negate the fact that these countries are parties to treaties governing control and destruction of such weapons. Ironically, the U.S. has been guilty of disrespect for treaties when it withdrew from the ABM Treaty, and stopped negotiations in several others. The US vetoed the UNSC resolution to extend UN peacekeeping in Bosnia. However, it is determined to fight the Axis if it has to “go it alone if necessary”. Even the International Court of Justice is disapproved by the U.S. in the belief that its citizens cannot be held accountable. This unilateralist attitude by the U.S. has further compromised the reputation of the UN in the global perspective. These instances also place greater emphasis on the need to democratize authority and power in the UN, most especially in the UNSC. Peace enforcement had been invoked in Korea and the Gulf War, both serving U.S. geopolitical interests. The UN made precedent actions, which places it between peacekeeping and enforcement. UN forces to serve as buffers, neutral to positions of adversaries, and using force only in the event of direct attack. Viability of “enhanced peacekeeping” has been reduced because there is often an absence of consensus among the conflicting parties or UN efforts were perceived as “taking sides”. Lack of political will, material, financial and military support from leading states makes success in peace enforcement difficult to attain. Rwanda was the scene of one of the UN’s greatest failures in upholding international peace and security as genocide killed almost a million people in three short months from April to July 1994. The genocide which killed 800,000 people was beyond the UN’s ability to control and stop because it lacked the required resources and will to make their mission successful. Thousands of civilians were abandoned by peacekeepers when they flocked to a school hoping for protection. The UN forces withdrew from the area, but not before pretending that they were not leaving. This incident leaves bitter memories among Rwandans against the United Nations (Winfield, 1999). From 2003 to 2004, the UN’s priority was in the Sudan, taking action to end the north-south civil war in the country. Initial signs were optimistic and led many to believe that a quick settlement was at hand. This false optimism shielded the growing problem in Darfur. However, increasing violations of human rights in Darfur led the UNSC to isolate the Darfur problem out of concern that its discussion would give the Khartoum government reason to pull out of the Naivasha negotiations. Before July 2004, two UN missions briefed the Security Council on massive human rights violations and the need for humanitarian aid in Darfur led the Council president to ask the Sudan government to disarm the Janjaweed militias. The appeals from humanitarian and human rights groups continued, followed by visits by Secretary-General Koffi Annan and foreign ministers from the U.S. and Europe. To date, there are no concrete gains from the activities of the UN regarding Darfur. The Darfur experience was a painful one which compromised the UN’s commitment and reputation in upholding human rights in its Universal Declaration of Rights. III. Synthesis The fate encountered by the League of Nations seems to be repeating itself in the UN. As individual geopolitical and economic interests among the more dominant countries in the League resilted in its ineffectiveness, so do the same interests among the major powers of the UN render the organization impotent in the face of radical global changes and pressures. If Britain and France were the dominant players determining the actions of the League of Nations, the United States, without prejudice to the other powerful permanent members of the UNSC, has risen to the forefront to greatly influence the UN. UNSC permanent members have been accused of using the Council as an instrument for promoting their geopolitical interests, economic interests and foreign policies. Foremost among these nations is the United States which had been accused of using the UN to enforce its foreign policy priorities and agenda. This became more evident as the U.S. continuously demands the UN to change its Charter so that unilateral use of force may be allowed. U.S. justification for this insistence is the contention that only preemptive use of force can effectively activities of rogue nations and terrorist organizations. The United States argues that preemptive measures are in themselves a form of self defense which is allowed by the UN Charter. U.S. dominance in UN actions is also made evident by its withdrawal of support in actions in Bosnia and Rwanda which led to major failures. The U.S. is not alone in its lack of will to support UN efforts. Many UN failures arose from the inability of UNSC member nations to provide the political will and military support that would have made those actions successful. Furthermore, UN dependence on superpower nations for military support have compromised their ability to effectively respond to problems and issues where these permanent members may have vested interests. Such was the case with Russia and China during the Darfur crisis when numerous human rights abuses were recorded but ineffectively addressed by the UN. If history tends to repeat itself, then it is perhaps only right to learn from the lessons taught us by the League of Nations before it is too late. Sources: Boyd, Alan (2004) India, Japan still shooting for Security Council. February 26, 2004. 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This article originally appeared in Sekai (World), November 2004, pp. 20-24. Translation for Japan Focus by Joshua A. Fogel, Professor of History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The United Nations and Darfur. January 2005. Human Rights Watch. http://www.hrw.org/wr2k5/darfur/3.htm McKivergan, Daniel (2005) Never Again Again, What is the United Nations going to do about the genocide in Darfur? http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/251blyeu.asp UN report denies genocide committed in Darfur. February 1, 2005. Morocco Times.Com. http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=6&id=3160 Aita, Judy (2006) United Nations Questions Sudanese Government Actions on Darfur, United States expresses concern over Sudans treatment of U.N. official. Washington File United Nations Correspondent. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=April&x=20060404194013mbzemog4.595584e-02&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html Winfield, Nicole (1999) UN Failed Rwanda, Ignored Evidence of Genocide, Report Says. Associated Press. http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/rwanda/rpt1299.htm Read More