Role of the United Nations in World Affair - Essay Example

Political science: Role of the UN in World Affair At the time the United Nations was formed in 1945 its purpose of design was to keep the world at peace. It operated strictly based on democracy principles. In this organization the secretary general is the ultimate head and any failures or success by this organization is related to him or her. In the past years the secretary general currently in office, Ban Ki-Moon, has been scrutinized for his responsibility in the United Nations. The secretary General of United Nation is elected after every 5 years and the terms can always be renewed open ended. Nevertheless, no person in this position has gone past two terms. This position is nominated by Security Council and elected by General assembly. The person in this position cannot be a citizen of any member states that are permanent. The secretary general is always from an average power and never had prior fame, always high powered people are selected for the post but are disallowed for several reasons (Gallup 2004) By the early 1960s the former president of USSR, Nikita, tried to abolish the secretary general’s position. Nikita felt that this position favored the Western powers as the number of member states that are permanent surpassed the communists. To replace this position he suggested a three member board to be appointed. The panel would be a representation of western power, non-aligned and communists’ states. The proposal was neglected as non-member states were never for the proposal. Since the start of this organization several UN secretaries have been spotted for their engagement in the affair of the world. Carl Hammarskjold was selected as the secretary general in the year 1953. In this position, he ruled for 8 years until he met his death in a plane crash. Carl was a son to a former prime minister of Sweden Hjalmar Hammarskjold. Before he joined this organization UN, he held several jobs that were ranked middle in the government of Sweden. He was chosen to be the UN secretary general in 1953 (Altschiller 1993) Hammarskjold’s greatest challenge came when the republic of Congo was created. With this part of the region achieving freedom from the French colonialists, the native tribes were very volatile. There was a power vacuum created making the state vulnerable to civil war. Hammarskjold supervised the process of election following an appeal from UN state assistance. There was a quick war break out and people felt that the UN had failed. The Soviet Union stated that the efforts of UN were insignificant and instantly asked for Hammarskjold’s resignation. Republic of Congo first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, requested the UN to make Katanga province rejoin Congo. Hammarskjold rejected the request. Opposition has complained that Hammarskjold did not like Lumumba and permitted his individual prejudice to affect his judgment. The move to rejoin Katanga province was viewed by many as a move to defuse the situation. Patrice turned to USSR for assistance. They were provided with planes, arms, food and medical supplies (Renninger 1989) In 1960 the cold war heightened and consequently, the mediators depended on United Nations as an organization that may improve relationship between the two countries. Hammarskjold’s declined the request and was viewed by many as a catalyst of the cold war. The United Nations ceased to be viewed as an international figure but as an organization that accomplished the interests of the western powers. Hammarskjold died in the year 1961 from a plane crash on his route to cool a cease fire between Katangese troops and UN forces of non-combatant. There is mystery around his death but the official report has it that it was accidental. Nevertheless, some Hammarskjold’s supporters believe that his death was well calculated. Following Dag’s death, the permanent representative of Burma to the UN, Thant, was chosen as the Secretary General. At the time of his tenure he negotiated both the crisis of Cuban missile and the Congo civil war conclusion. The crisis of Cuban missile was the closest USSR and United States came to engage in an open warfare. The UN was in the limelight as every state looked on it as to assist evading a nuclear war within the world superpowers. Dissimilar to his predecessors Thant believed that making peace with both USSR and United States was in United Nation’s interest. Thant believed that peace was needed for both USSR and US to ensure there was no turmoil. Nevertheless, Kennedy disallowed his suggestion as missiles would be kept in Cuba. Thant said that that time for cooling the two states would take three days before the two sides would come to the negotiation table leading to withdrawal of missiles while US would disassemble the missile in Turkey in return. His approach towards the crisis of Cuban missile showed a fairer stance on the UN part. He looked determined to make peace in both sides. Some political analysts believed that he wished to tell the world that the United Nations is to protect all its members’ interest and not to get manipulated by western powers. The crisis of the Cuban missile is described by critics as the United Nation’s defining point. As the hostility existing between USSR and US reached its peak, UN was viewed as the ultimate barrier making them refrain from war. Following the involvement of United Nations in Korean War several critics believed it would again collaborate with the US. He finalized these fears when he played the role of a mediator. In 1971 Thant resigned from office and he is known to be the only secretary during cold war to continue speaking terms with world powers he engaged with. Thant’s time in the position is described as a stability time on UN’s involvement part. Afterwards in 2007, Ban Ki Moon was chosen as the secretary general. With re-electing Ban Ki Moon approaching in 2012 his tenure has a lot as a leader of UN. During his tenure he was forced to deal with Middle East wars, Sri Lanka situations and increasing tensions. The conduct of Ban Ki Moon on three circumstances has been met with criticism from all over the world. The media of Sri Lanka has made their way on Ban Ki Moon’s reporting and choosing of all commissions to investigate war crime allegations during the final stages of war. The local politicians also criticize Moon saying that he surpasses his area of jurisdiction. The Soviet Union has maintained their position of being against Secretary General stating that his engagement in Ivory Coast and Sri Lanka is paving a dangerous example of dictatorship rule in United Nations. Moon chose a council to look into war crime allegations that occurred in Russia, China and Sri Lanka along with half of the General Assembly are against the move. In spite of the opposition the council has been chosen showing that a decline in UN’s imaginary democratic methods (Rivlin 1993). Political analysts have stated that moon has collaborated with the western powers. It furthered stated that the UN no longer performs its role like it did before at the time of Thant. The organization has now been split into two: the falling United States’ rule and the growing China’s power. The tenure of Moon shows that his role as a secretary General had failed as its neutrality had faded. As it developed before and after cold war the United Nations become more dependent on the west growing power. The critics say that what contributed to this was the fall of the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union had remained to be super powers, the United Nations would have maintained its middle road course. Moon’s actions have portrayed him as willing to collaborate with westerners and give up democratic values that were upheld by the UN charter. Dag and Thant have all shown the changing United Nation’s role. The role of Dag in Congo was UNs learning curve that indicated that its leaders needed to put aside personal ideas in order to see the organization improve. The dislike of Hammarskjold towards Lumumba made UN to be ignored for Soviet Union. The period of Thant can be considered as the time at which the United Nations performed his role without any alignment. Thant managed to be neutral to both states and was able to solve the wrangles that existed between the Soviet Union and US. He managed to mediate between the two states till they came to terms. Thant was seen as one who exposed the rift that existed within the United States. The westerners that is inclusive of United States and the allies are viewed as the organization’s controller while China on the other hand is see as a threat to US an old power. From time immemorial to date, United Nations gone on with reverting back to its loyalty towards US any time it threatened to opt for a neutral path. Future prospects A program organized by UN information service brings close up to around 80 learners who are responsible for reinforcing knowledge acquisition through their research and personal interest. For this year an analysis was done on the response of UN to decelerate the effect of crisis in the global economy. The main area of study was recovery of the economy and be well versed with human rights. According some researches carried out, in the future there might be migrations of more people with the aim of looking for cash. The issue of unemployed is ever inclining and discriminate. In such a situation the economy would opt for cheap labor rather than finding a financial balance. In times of financial and economic crisis the more marginalized and weak group lie children, women and migrants always stands a chance to be affected particularly through discrimination. In February, the council of human rights held session on economic impact and financial crisis and came up with a solution which required states to look on human rights responsibilities, and make sure that those that are affected at the time of crisis are protected. From the time of economic downturn started, the united nation has had calculated steps to solve the problems of present economic context through setting up continuous 9 initiatives that worked together with the goal of ensuring food security, improve employment opportunities and be able to access basics like social amenities among many services. A group that comprises of 20 bank governors and ministers called the G 20 has helped the UN in monitoring the situation on the financial crisis (Gupta 2006) The UN’s prospect is to be sufficient and be able to solve cases and crisis in a way that all parties are at peace. For this to happen UN is putting in place measures that see the marginalized group reinstate their standards of life. The UN has established Security Council that chips in incase of warfare in its member state. It serves as a peace keeper increasing the state’s ability and making sure that crisis does not arise. UN has also established their headquarters in various parts of the world so that they can reach individuals who are marginalized and find a permanent solution to this problem. UN has also created job opportunities in areas with problems of unemployment. This has seen them improve growth of economies making them stable. The ultimate goal of these initiatives is to see UN achieving its goals in future. Its major goal is making sure that the world is at peace by stabilizing political situations and economic development. With the two any economy is considered stable and there are no fears of any crisis in this kind of stability. Bibliography Alec M. Gallup (2006). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2004. Rowman & Littlefield Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations. United Nations Publications, Donald Altschiller (1993). The United Nations role in world affairs. H.W. Wilson John P. Renninger (1989). The Future Role of the United Nations in an Interdependent World. BRILL Benjamin Rivlin (1993). The Challenging Role of the UN Secretary-General: Making. the Most Impossible Job in the World. ABC-CLIO Jasvir Singh (2009). Problem of Ethicity: Role of United Nations in Kosovo Crisis. Dr. Jasvir Singh, K.R. Gupta (2006). Studies in World Affairs, Vol 2. Atlantic Publishers & Dist . Read More