The UN Is an Ineffective International Actor - Coursework Example

THE UN IS AN INEFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL ACTOR? By Course Professor University Date Formed in 1945, the United Nations has been characterized by numerous failures and weaknesses in fulfilling its mandate. These weaknesses that rotate around the UN’s inability to efficiently handle international conflicts render its charter essentially unenforceable. Other weaknesses and failures are based on the organizations visible exclusiveness or its assumed backing of globalized philosophies. The membership of the UN’s main branch, the Security Council, is uneven as some blocs of countries are under-represented (Buckley, n.d.). The five permanent Security Council permanent members are from the most powerful nations of the world. Possibility of skewness of resolutions made at this council cannot be ruled out (Kuziemko and Werker, 2006: 905-930). Despite the broad criticism, the UN through its various specialized agencies has made substantial achievements that cannot be ignored in peacekeeping, international relations, upholding human rights and socio-economic development of member nations (Jacobson, 2012: 1-7). Thus, United Nations can be seen as both effective and ineffective its role an international actor. The UN is an international organization that was established 1945 with the primary mission to maintain peace in the world, create good relations between nations, encourage cooperation in solving global problems and promote respect for human rights. It provides a forum for the world’s nations to align their international interests with the interests of the world as a whole. It functions on voluntary participation and cooperation of its member countries. Nothing can be accomplished without the involvement and agreement of the member states. Currently, the organization has 191 members nations with distinct social, political and economic systems (Kuziemko and Werker, 2006: 905-930).These nations agree to peacefully resolve disputes, desist from threatening or employing force against one another and refusing to help countries that oppose the United Nations mission. With headquarters in New York U.S, the U.N is a separate and liberal entity (Claude, 1984: 57-80). The inception of the United Nations was based on a long history to enhance international cooperation. Popular European philosophers of the 19th century, such as Immanuel Kant had suggested a federation of nations committed to the protection of the rights of smaller countries caught up in conflicts between larger countries. The federation would discipline any nation that would act aggressively against another. The idea of these philosophers became a reality following the World War I with the creation of the League of Nations. The latter was an idea of United States President Woodrow Wilson and some European powers. The League of Nations enjoyed a few remarkable successes but eventually faltered in its mandate when it could not prevent World War II (Claude, 1984: 57-80). The league suffered from two major weaknesses: 1) a number of the most powerful and influential states in the world, including the US were not members; 2) The league demanded a unanimous agreement to rule against aggression of a country against another. If any member state disagreed, the League was rendered powerless to act. In this respect, when Italy, Germany, and Japan initiated military action against fellow member states, in the late 1930s, they would not approve to take action against themselves in order to stop their aggression. Ultimately, the League failed in its chief mission to prevent another world war (‘promising or failing? League of Nations and United Nations Organisation, 1995:101-106). In the course of fighting the Axis powers of Italy, Germany and Japan in the World War II, the British Prime Minister, W. Churchill, U.S President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet Prime Minister Joseph Stalin met severally between 1941 and 1945 to create an international peacekeeping organization with the primary goal of preventing future wars at the height of World War II. In April 1945, before the official ending of the war, representatives from 50 nations met in San Francisco where they created charter for the United Nations (Claude, 1884: 57-80). The United Nations, similar to the ‘League of Nations’ was formed to promote peace in the world and avert another world war in the future. In order to prevent the structural failures of its predecessor, the founders of the UN sought support from the most powerful nations. In order to provide adequate power and implement its will, the created Security Council was mandated to take action against aggressor countries. To assure powerful nations of protection of their sovereignty, the UN offered veto authority over its actions. The five victorious countries in the World War II- U.S, Britain, Soviet Union, China and France received this veto authority. The veto affords any one of the five Security Council permanent members the power to reject any resolution by the U.N. In addition to the five permanent members states; the council also has ten rotating member countries (Alvarez, 1996: 101-112). Other than the Security Council, which is the most powerful branch of the U.N, the latter is divided into other four branches in order to effectively deal with the complicated task of enabling its member nations to cooperate. The first of the four branches is the UN General assembly. This is the principal decision making and archetypical assembly in the UN and has responsibility to maintain the principles of the UN through its various policies and recommendations. It is made up of all member countries (The United Nations: Structure and Functions of an International Organisation’1993: 30-52) The International Court of Justice (ICC) is the other branch of the UN. Situated in The Hague, the court is responsible for judicial matters of the UN. Another branch is the Economic & Social Council that helps the General Assembly in elevating economic and social development and also cooperation with member countries. Lastly, the secretariat is the UNs branch that is head by a Secretary-General. Its principle responsibility is to provide studies, information, and other data when required by the other branches for their meetings (The United Nations: Structure and Functions of an International Organisation, 1993: 30-52). The United Nation’s effectiveness, since its establishment can be viewed from the context of its several remarkable successes in fulfilling its mandate. The UN has successfully negotiated 172 peace settlements that have put to an end regional conflicts and it is also accredited with playing a crucial role in over making over 300 international treaties in distinct areas such as human rights conventions and treaties on the use of the oceans and outer space thus reasonably preventing eruption of wars (Horswell, 2012:134-169) Further, in pursuit of its principal goal of preventing wars in the world, the United Nations has played a substantial role in disarming the world and making it free of a nuclear weapon. For example, during the Cuban Missile disaster in 1962, the United Nations was used as a platform by the US to challenge the Soviet’s placement of nuclear weapons in Cuba. Facing embarrassment of public indictment, the Soviet was compelled to remove missiles from Cuba (Jacobson, 2012:1-7).The United Nations has also carried out numerous peacekeeping missions to restore security and reduce armed conflict. It is in appreciation of this role that the UN peacekeeping forces won the Nobel Prize for peace in 1988 (Jacobson, 2012:1-7). The United Nations also has significantly succeeded creating consciousness of human rights starting with the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” that was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948. The United Nation’s Commission on Human rights has facilitated transition to democracy through its investigations and technical assistance. Specifically, the UN points Cambodia as one of its successes in matters pertaining elections whereby it successfully promoted a nation free national election after a new government that replaced Khmer Rounge (Horswell, 2012:136-172). The United Nations has also reasonably succeeded in its role of sustaining economic and social development and addressing global problems such as hunger. This success can be viewed on the lens of the good work of Agencies under the UN, in particular the World Food Programme (WFP, 2010: 1-5). WFP work has been outstanding for past decades due to its well-designed logistical strategies to offer life-saving food and safeguard human security in the event of a humanitarian crisis or violent conflicts (WFP, 2010: 1-5). Despite the significant successes, the United Nations is marred by many weaknesses and failures that have been a hindrance to the achievement of its mission as outlined in its charter. The ineffectiveness of the UN can be viewed through the lens of its structure and numerous failures over the years to live up to its mandate. It can be argued that the UN has been quite effective in the perspective of the social welfare of the world. However, the pursuits of its principal goals of multilateral diplomacy and peace in the world are wanting. The first cause of this challenge is based on the structure of the Security Council, which exemplifies the mentioned goals (Alvarez, 1996:101-112). The Security Council no longer depicts a balance of power in the world and, in this regard can no longer be the single authority in charge of what is in the best interest of the world (Buckley, n.d.). When it was first established, the Council constituted of the five victors of Second World War-US, UK, France, China and Russia. These countries have permanent seats beside veto power. There are ten other non-permanent members. Five non-permanent members’ states are elected in every year to serve a term a two years term. In theory, the Security Council appears to be fair and balanced but the reality is that it is severely lopsided. The five permanent members are nations with the highest spending of the military. They make up 60% of the worldwide military spending, of which 40% is attributed to US alone. Together with Germany, they are also the largest arms exporters and the only countries officially recognize as nuclear weapon nations. When another country is elected in as a non-permanent member, they have to fit in the in the structure dominated by these permanent members states. Such a country enjoys increased aid from the U.S by 59% while its aid from the UN is increased by 8% (Buckley, n.d). The problem is that this increase in aid from the U.S, the most powerful country in the world and the Security Council, and from the UN itself to a state elected to join the council appears to be a shrewd strategic plan. It is also worthwhile noting that by disintegrating the UN development aid agency level components, UNICEF, an agency that has long been under control of the United States plays a crucial role with regards to the UN foreign aid and, therefore, US could use this position to influence the non-permanent or rotating member states (Kuziemko and Werker, 2006: 905-930). The implication of this is that a country contesting for the post has two opportunities- to become significantly involved in world’s politics and to present their needs to the rest of the world. It is only logical to conclude that prospective member state could trade in their votes for political and financial gains in the form of foreign aid from the United States and the UN. Indeed, the U.S allegedly issued promises of hefty rewards to rotating member states in exchange for their support after the run up to the 2003 assault on Iraq (Barry, 2003). Thus, the UN Security can be viewed as marred with bribery and deal making. The correlation between membership of the Security Council & foreign aid is a critical charge. According to Article 24 of the U.N Charter, the member states confer on the Security Council the principal responsibility for the maintenance of global peace and security, and agree that in implementing these duties under this responsibility, the Security Council should act on behalf of the member countries. Since the Security Council is supposed to act in the name of all members of the UN, the council members should advocate for good of the world, and not pursuing their personal interests (Kuziemko and Werker, 2006:905-930). This as a major threat to effective implementation of goals of the UN. Another structural defect of the UN, which renders it lopsided, is that it does not represent the balance of power with regards to demographics. The 5 permanent members are from North America, Europe, and Asia. Latin America and Africa have no permanent representation. It is reasonable to argue that for the UN, through the Security Council to be able to make resolutions for what is the best for the worlds safety, the whole world must be represented (Buckley, n.d.). The Arab bloc of countries also does not have permanent representation in the Security Council (Buckley, n.d.). The Security Council forms the major branch of the UN, and its power and role is the most emphasized. Critics of the UN contend that the Security Council carries a lot of weight but just symbolically. In the real sense, it functions like any other governing body that happens to be chaired by large egos. The problem lies in the veto power given to the five permanent member states. Pursuant to the UN’s bylaws, a vote of no by a permanent member is sufficient to bring down any given resolution that goes contrary to their interests (Kuziemko and Werker, 2006: 905-930). Further, the liberal employment of veto authority has resulted in the permanent member states convening private meetings to discuss resolutions prior to presenting them to the full council, thus effectively circumventing the rest of the Security Council members (Buckley, n.d.). The above structural weakness in the Security Council could perhaps be ascribed to some of the massive failures of the UN in the implementation of its mandate. One area where the UN has failed is slackness to punish some countries that violate resolutions that are made through voting. For example, in the aftermath of both the Sudan’s Darfur crisis and Srebrenica massacre, none of the country faced sanctions. The UN acknowledged that there were grave errors of judgment made on its part in Srebrenica (Buckley, n.d.). The war criminals in Darfur have been charged in the International Criminal Court, but the important fact is that the Security Council did nothing about the crisis. Further to biases of the UN that could be blamed for its laxity in invoking in taking action against states that violate other states, Israel has taken unilateral actions regarding its borders with the neighboring countries, in particular Palestine but no action has ever been taken against it (Jacobson, 2012: 1-7). Brahimi Report on the United Nations peacekeeping conceded that no failure damaged the position and credibility of the UN peacekeeping than in the 90s than its unwillingness to distinguish victim from aggressor (Jacobson, 2012: 1-7). Following the massacre of 800, 000 in Somalia, the UN Commission of inquiry investigating the failure of the UN peacekeeping failure concluded that UN should avoid undertaking further peace enforcement actions within domestic conflicts of states. The UN peacekeeping, despite deployment of many military and security personnel to Somalia between 1992 and 1994, has failed miserably to restore peace in the country (Jacobson, 2012: 1-7). The Rwanda Genocide of 1994 depicts a pathetically ineffective UN. The UN representatives and the Canadian Peacekeeping force perceived the critical nature of growing tensions between Hutus and Tutsis. However, the U.N leaders, peacekeeping forces and ambassadors of several countries including the U.S did nothing to stop the 104 days eruption of violence in which Hutus massacred over 800,00 Tutsi and sympathizer Hutus. After the massacre, which it could not prevent, the U.N focused on evacuating their expatriates, government officials, and people from other countries. The U.N peacekeepers deliberately and disgracefully deserted thousands of civilians who had sought safety from where they had camped (e.g. stadiums and schools.) leaving them perceptible to surrounding troops and militia who consequently massacred them (Jacobson, 2012:1-7). The UN over its history has also shown its infectiveness by its failure to prevent other violence and crises such as the Bosnia massacre (1995), Israeli-Lebanon Border Murders (2000). Further, UN was nowhere to be seen when NATO showered Bombs over former Yugoslavia (Horswell, 2012: 136-172). The United Nations has also miserably failed to protect women and children from sexual abuse. Taking the DRC christened the “rape capital” as an example, militant groups continue to rape women and children at the rate of above 15,000 per annum by year 2008 but the U.N peacekeepers are often cowed by the armed militants and do not actually protect susceptible women and children(Jacobson,2012: 1-7). Every year, numerous allegations are made on peacekeepers sexual abuse of women and children in the host countries. In 2004, the UN carried out investigations into 150 allegations of sexual misconduct of its peacekeeping forces in DRC and Burundi, including rape, pedophilia and prostitution (Jacobson,2012: 1-7).Thus, even the UN as represented by its peacekeepers, who poor civilians are supposed to look up to for protection are posing a threat to them. In conclusion, the United Nations as an international actor can be seen as effective and ineffective. However, the various elements of ineffectiveness threaten to obscure the relevance of UN. It cannot be ignored that UN has played a significant role in the prevention and quelling wars and conflicts through peacekeeping missions and international relations. The United Nations has also played a significant role in safeguarding human rights. It can also be accredited with significant milestones in promotion of socio-economic development through its umbrella agencies such as the World Food Program and UNESCO. The ineffectiveness of the UN fundamentally stems from its structure. The membership of the organization’s most powerful organ, the Security Council, is a preserve for the few powerful nations, mainly permanent membership. The membership also lacks demographic representation, with Arab and African block of countries under-represented. Non-permanent members are subject to adverse influence by the powerful permanent members through foreign aid. These structural weaknesses render UN incredible in execution of its principal mandate of sustenance of peace in the world as prejudices cannot be ruled out. The UN had also failed to prevent major crises in the world even when it had the capacity. It has also failed to end sexual exploitation of women and children by militia groups and at its worst, some UN peacekeepers have perpetrated this sexual abuse in host countries. References Alvarez, J., 1996. Judging the Security Council. The American Journal of International Law, 90(1), Pp.101-112. Barry, R., 2003. France Battles U.S. To Line Up U.N. Votes. Associated Press. Buckley, H., n.d. A Critique of the United Nations Security Council | Fordham Political Review. [Online] Fordhampoliticalreview.Org. Available At: Http://Fordhampoliticalreview.Org/A-Critique-Of-The-United-Nations-Security-Council/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2014]. Claude, I., 1984. The Origin of the United Nation Systems in Claude, Swords into Plowshares. 4th Ed. New York: Random House, Pp.57-80. Horswell, E., 2012. United Nations. Sec Ed. Jacobson, T., 2012. U.N. Peacekeeping: Few Successes, Many Failures, Inherent Flaws. By, The Center for Sovereignty & Security, A D Division of Freedom Alliance, Pp.1-6. Kuziemko, I. And Werker, E., 2006. How Much Is A Seat On The Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations. Journal of Political Economy, 114(5), Pp.905-930. Promising or Failing? League of Nations and United Nations Organisation, 1995. Tilburg Law Review, 4(2), Pp.101-106. The United Nations: Structure and Functions of an International Organisation, 1993. Choice Reviews Online, 30(08), Pp.30-52. World Food Programme, 2010. International Review of the Red Cross, 13(146), P.269. Read More