United Nations and International Peace - Essay Example

The Powers of the UN to Tackle a Breach of the International Peace Introduction International peace and solidarity among all countries in the world assume great importance now-a-days especially in the context of increased conflicts and disputes on a wide range of issues. Countries differ in their opinion and approach on various international issues- social, economical and/or ecological- that make them opposing ones to their counterparts dealing with the same issue. When a dispute exists between countries on a certain issue, they themselves can come to an agreement among them or seek the advice of some international agencies such as United Nations (UN). International peace is a prerequisite to any country's progress and prosperity that determines the country's development both in terms of social and economic aspects. For decades, terrorism has been a nightmare for countries, which will collapse the economic and social set up of a country and hurdle its economic growth and development. At this juncture, the present essay is relevant as it deals with the role of United Nation's role in preserving and encouraging peace among the member countries. The essay further examines the role of the UN in monitoring and maintaining peace across the world as an international agency in the context of its powers. The essay takes a critical approach to the success and failure of UN in international peace with real examples such as Rwanda, Iraq and Kosovo. The essay is concluded with a short debate on the present role and significance of the UN to contribute to international peace. United Nations (UN) United Nations came into existence on 24 October in 1945by virtue of the Charter ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories. "The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter" (Introductory Note). The day October 24 is celebrated each year all over the world as UN Day. The basic idea behind setting up of such an organization is to work for peace and development by bringing all countries together in harmony. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations (Article 1). As regards the membership is concerned, the Charter states that "membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations" (Article 4). The top most official of the UN is the Secretary General and Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea, the eighth Secretary-General, holds the position at present. The operations of the UN are regulated by different departments. A brief account of the structure of UN in general is outlined below: The General Assembly The Security Council The Economic and Social Council The Trusteeship Council The International Court of Justice The Secretariat The UN System The Role and Powers of UN in International Peace One of the main areas of concern of the UN is the preservation of world peace. International peace and harmony have been in the agenda f the UN since its inception. By signing the Charter, member states/countries undertake to take efforts to avoid crisis situations between countries and tackling of disputes by peaceful means. Since it inception, the UN has been playing a major role in helping defuse and eliminate international crisis and in resolving protracted conflicts. In its efforts to harmonize the member countries, the UN has experienced both successful and disappointing outcomes. Over the years UN efforts have produced dramatic results. For example, "UN helped defuse the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and the Middle East crisis in 1973. In 1988, a UN-sponsored peace settlement ended the Iran-Iraq war, and the following year UN-sponsored negotiations led to the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. In the 1990s, the UN was instrumental in restoring sovereignty to Kuwait and played a major role in ending civil wars in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mozambique, and resolving or containing conflict in various other countries." (UN in Brief). "When terrorists attacked the United States on 11 September 2001, the Security Council acted quickly - adopting a wide-ranging resolution which obligates States to ensure that any person who participates in financing, planning, preparing, perpetrating or supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice" UN in Brief). As a gratitude for the endless efforts for international peace, in 2001, the then Secretary General Kofi Annan was selected for the Nobel Prize. In his lecture following the Nobel Award Ceremony, Kofi Annan reiterated that "peace must be sought, above all, because it is the condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security" (UN News Centre). The efforts of the UN to keep the countries away from conflicts and chaos may be grouped as below: Peace Making Peace Building, and Peace Keeping A Brief account of the Disappointments of the UN Of course, the UN has been successful in many of its efforts in peace making and its preservation. But, there were unsuccessful stories in the history of the UN and it is mostly noticed by all countries as a serious matter of concern. Some of the widely noticed events are briefed hereunder: The Rwandan Genocide The most apprehensive and much debated subject across the world is the Rwandan Genocide, which happened in 1994, when killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda's minority Tutsis and the moderates of its Hutu majority. Over the course of approximately 100 days, from the assassination of Juvnal Habyarimana on April 6th through to mid July, at least 500,000 people were killed. Most estimates are of a death toll between 800,000 and 1,000,000. The failure of the UN to halt the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is a best example in this regard. The report of an independent inquiry made public at UN headquarters in New York on 16 December, 1999, remarks that UN system is solely responsible for this failure (Enquiry 1999). Out of the experience from Rwandan event, the UN officials have leant fruitful lesson to foresee and prevent genocide on Rwanda or any other country on earth. The last Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the creation of a UN commission and a Special Rapporteur to forestall future acts of genocide. His proposal would, he said, "ensure that when 'confronted with a new Rwanda the world would respond effectively" (Kent 2004) Kosovo issue Another noticed issue is the Kosovo issue. Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia and Montenegro, has seen deep conflict between its Serbian and ethnic Albanian population. The conflict started in 1989, when Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic revoked Kosovo's autonomy deepened Serb-Kosovo differences amid rising breakaway movements throughout Yugoslavia. Many efforts have been put by various international and national agencies to find a lasting solution for the problem, but everything turned futile. The UN has also been reportedly criticized by many studies. A report on human rights in the internationally administered province says that "the UN and the local authorities that have run Kosovo for the past five years have failed to achieve even a minimal level of protection of rights and freedoms, in particular for the province's Serbian minority". Furthermore, the report says "powers vested in the head of the UN mission to dictate laws, and control the judiciary, ignore the basic principles of democracy. As more authority has devolved to local authorities, primarily ethnic Albanians, complaints about them have increased. Representation of non-Albanians in Kosovo's civil service is too low" (UN Failing 2004) References Article 1, Chapter I- Purposes and Principles, Charter of the United Nations, UN.org, viewed 26 December 2008, Article 4, Chapter II- Membership, Charter of the United Nations, UN.org, viewed 26 December 2008, Enquiry, 1999, Enquiry finds UN failure to halt 1994 genocide, Rwanda, un.org, Viewed 27 December 2008 Introductory Notes, Charter of the United Nations, UN.org, Viewed 26 December 2008, http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/intro.shtml Kent Randolph, 2004, The UN and Rwanda genocide: Could it ever happen again, Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, Humanitarian Network Practice, odihpn.org, Viewed 27 December 2008, UN Failing, 2004, UN Failing Kosovo's minorities, says report, smh.com, Viewed 28 December 2008, Read More