The International Organizations of League of Nations and the UN - Coursework Example

League of Nations and the UN Roll No: Teacher: 19th April 2009 League of Nations and the UN International Organizations International organizations are created for the purpose of a combined effort towards the betterment of the whole world. They are constructed by means of international cooperation. This international cooperation has resulted in the formation of international organizations such as League of Nations and United Nations. League of Nations and United Nations are the two greatest and largest international organizations that were created for peace making and global collaboration purposes mainly. The League of Nations was created after the First World War and was regarded as the most comprehensive institution among the international organizations. It combined in itself the different organizations. It differed from other organizations that were created before it, as they were mostly consultancies whereas the League of Nations marked the beginning of collaboration (Gill 1996). The United Nations was created after the failure of the League of Nations. It was created for global sustenance of humanity, international peacemaking and security, social progress, controlling wars and for the promotion of global collaboration (Fasulo 2005). United States is active still today as it has been successful in some of its set objectives. It cannot be said that it is fully successful but has gained something due to which, it has not diminished like League of Nations. League of Nations The League of Nations was created in order to promote international collaboration between nations and for peace making purposes. The main functions of the League were to maintain international peace and security and to promote international cooperation (Gill 1996). The League was to make efforts to reduce the size of the armies of the various states to such an extent that those were just sufficient for the maintenance of law and order and defense from foreign aggression. There was reconsideration of treaties and international conditions (Gill 1996). The main organs of the League were the Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat. Every member of the League of Nations was a member of the Assembly. Although each member was allowed to send three representatives to the Assembly, each state had only one vote (Gill 1996). The Assembly was required to meet at least once a year. However, there could be additional meetings in case of necessity. The Assembly was authorized to deal with any matter within the sphere of the action of the league or affecting the peace of the world. It could not discuss those matters, which were exclusively reserved for the council (Gill 1996). The League failed in its purpose of maintaining peace in the world. In spite of its efforts for two decades, the whole world was involved in a war in 1939. By that time, the machinery of the League of Nations had completely broken down (Gill 1996). The failure of the League can be attributed to a number of causes. The Covenant of the League of Nations was made a part and parcel of the peace settlement, which is regarded as a misfortune for the League. There were many states that regarded the Treaty of Versailles as a treaty of revenge and were not prepared to ratify the same (Gill 1996). By not ratifying the treaty, they refused to be the members of the League. Due to this issue, the League was weakened because the great powers were absent from the League (Gill 1996). This can be regarded as a reason of failure of the League. The League of Nations was dominated by England and France due to which, other states lost their confidence in the League (Gill 1996). This can also be regarded as a reason behind the failure of the League. Great Britain and France joined the League but they did not change their behavior. Great Britain looked upon the League as a means to perpetuate the balance of power (Gill 1996). She did not adapt the balance of power to the requirements of a community of powers. France looked upon the League as a means to encircle Germany. She did not transform French security into collective security (Gill 1996). Small nations lost their faith in the effectiveness of the League to save them from any aggression. The principle of collective security was not applied in actual practice. If all the member states had joined hands against Japan and Italy on the question of Manchuria and Abyssinia respectively, aggression would have been checked and the prestige of League would have risen (Gill 1996). As each state decided to follow her own policy, the principle of collective security was weakened thus there was nothing to check the aggressive policy of Hitler (Gill 1996). The League was given an effective weapon in the form of economic sanctions. However, the weapon was not used in such a way as to produce good results. The economic sanctions against Italy were applied in a halting manner and no wonder they failed in their objective (Gill 1996). United Nations The development of international organization culminated in the formation of the United Nations Organization in 1945 with a view to promote international cooperation and establish international peace and security (Fasulo 2005). Though the United Nations largely borrowed from the League, in matters of organization and functions it certainly marked an improvement over the League of Nations. The Second World War compelled the nations of the world to endeavor to establish an international organization so that mutual disputes can be resolved peacefully and that peace and security can be established in the world. The objectives of the United Nations are enshrined in the Permeable to the Charter. There are four major objectives that are: to save the succeeding generations from war; to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the work and dignity of human and equal rights of men, women and nations large and small; to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained and to promote social progress and better standard of life in large freedom (Fasulo 2005). Roles Played by United Nations Ever since its inception, the United Nations has always been called upon to maintain international peace and security. Whether it was the Balkans, Iran, Palestine, Kashmir, Berlin Blockade or Korea or the issue of U.S. hostages in Iran, Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, Israeli attack on Lebanon, or vacation of occupation of Kuwait by Iraq, the UN has always heeded the call and has done its best to find solutions to these problems (Fasulo 2005). Maintenance of international peace and security is the major responsibility of UN. Generally, the UN appears whenever the disputes assume serious dimensions and pose a real danger to the world peace. Under the UN Charter, the countries are supposed to settle their disputes through peaceful means, but at the moment when these efforts fail, the General Assembly and the Security Council is called upon to maintain peace (Fasulo 2005). The United Nations does not act only when the peace and security is in danger rather it ensures preventive measures to avoid such eventuality. Problems Underlying Comprehensive International Organizations There are a number of global problems that need resolution globally such as poverty, peace, social problems, economic problems, human rights, education, health, jurisdiction, controlling nuclear weaponry, inequality, collective security and much more (Fasulo 2005). All of the above global problems need resolution from international organizations such as United Nations and many working under UN such as International Court of Justice, International Labor Organization, World Health Organization, International Development Organization, International Finance Corporation, World Trade Organization and many more. UN’s Success at Problem Resolving The United Nations at present is confronted with serious challenges. Its area of peacekeeping has greatly widened, because at present in addition to inter-state conflicts, it has been getting involved in intra-state disputes as well (Fasulo 2005). It has also felt concerned about reconstruction and rehabilitation of effective governments. On the other hand, the warring factions have shown great disregard for peace and are not willing to abide by the ideals, which possess a serious threat for the United Nations (Fasulo 2005). The failure of the United Nations in Somalia, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia has also given rise to the doubts about the capacity of United Nations to achieve its objective (Fasulo 2005). The growing differences among the member states of the UN due to the creation of regional groups and growing competition for trade advantage among them, also pose a serious threat for the United Nations. Above all the third world countries have been demanding reconstruction of United Nations with a view to end the monopoly of the big power (Fasulo 2005). Despite all these challenges and problems, it cannot denied that the United Nations and the existing Charter provisions are fully capable of achieving a vast amount of good for the world community without formally amending the Charter or altering the existing structure (Fasulo 2005). Some of the disputes, which were resolved by the United Nations in the changed conditions, include Afghanistan, Iran-Iraq war, Namibia, East Timor, Bosnia, Korea, Kosovo, Chechnya, Indonesia and many others (Fasulo 2005). United Nations received Nobel Peace Prize for 1988 because of its peace achievements. Works Cited Fasulo, Linda. An Insider Guide to the UN. USA: Yale University Press, 2005. Gill, George. The League of Nations from 1929 to 1946: From 1929 to 1946. New York: Avery Publishing Group, 1996. Read More