United Nations – A History
By the end of the Second World War, many lives were lost, millions were displaced,nationswere destroyed and the overall death and destruction scared the mankind for many years. From a mind where war became a necessity, there was a time when people were seeking peace. The deaths and destruction left an image where people looked for peace promising themselves not to witness war ever again. “To promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security” the United Nations Organization emerged.
The term ‘United Nations’ had previously been used in the ‘Declaration by United Nations’ by Franklin D Roosevelt. He mentioned this in the declaration when the war was still onand this declaration was used to bind 26 nations who had signed this, declaring their war on the Axis Powers.
Representatives of Republic of China, USSR, USA and UK initiated the discussions even after the end of the Second World War and UNO became operational in building nations in the post-war later emerging as an international organization. Representatives discussed various organs, aims and objectives. Nations then began debating on its membership and the world began engaging in drafting proposals.
After dedicated work, the Charter of the United Nations drafted and put up for discussion. Before its official enforcement, the draft required official ratification from member nations(46 countries then)along with Republic of China, USSR, France, the United States and the UK.
The then adoption of Chartersignalledthe transfer of mission from international peace and security from the League of Nations (which had then been dissolved) to the United Nations Organization.
The United Nations Today
Today, the United Nations has grown into an international organization with 193 members. To ensure better cooperation and efficient working, the United Nations was divided into five principle organs. They were –
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
The General Assembly (GA)
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ)
The Secretariat
Each of the organshas its own responsibilities and functions.
Functions of the UN
The primary aim of the UN, since its birth was to ensure peace and securityamong its member nations. It was also tasked to protect the human rights of every single citizen of the world and ensure social and economic development of its member nations. These were possible through the following ways –
The United Nations Peacekeeping Forces–The UN does not have its own army, but maintains a strong peacekeeping force, the force comprises of units volunteered by the member nations. The peacekeeping force is tasked to main peace and security in the region it has been deployed and are established in the regions of conflict.
The United Nations is also tasked to providehumanitarian as part of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights which includes providing (food, water and shelter) and assist areas in conflict zones and disaster hitalong with other humanitarian agencies such as World Health Organization (which ensured good health to all), UNAIDS, World Bank Group etc.which play a crucial role in the development of nations, both economically and socially.
Failures of the UN
The United Nations came into working after the unsuccessful League of Nations, who failed to prevent the outbreak of Second World War. It has multiple flaws and instability became its major reason for the downfall and dissolution, on the contrary the United Nations became more successful on many accounts, including food aid and aid to refugees, however, it too was bit by its own actions.
Case Study 1 – Rwanda
Today, the world continues to mourn the loss of 800,000 people who died in the Rwanda Genocide in 1994, for none other reason than belonging from different ethnic group. Apart from the large scale massacre and atrocities witnessed by the people during that time, the event was labelled as “glitches of the UN”. The end of the Rwandan Civil war, fought in the 1990s, had heightened tensions between the two ethnical tribes of Rwanda- the Hutu and the Tutsi and reopened their old wounds. By the time clashes reached from door to door, the call for immediate deployment of the peacekeepers grew. The call reached the doors of the UN and peacekeepers were deployed to protect lives and prevent further clashes and bring back economic stability. They were given strict instructions not to use force under any conditions.
How was UN accountable?
In spite of repetitive aggressive announcements by both sides on the radio in Rwanda, international organizations or the UN failed to react. The Canadian force commander, sensing a major attack, had immediately sent a cable to the United Nations Security Council, warning them against an urgent threatof a huge massacre or genocide in the country. A notice had been sent to the Council. It was later found out that the Council did not receive the cable and the decision was pushed away which was then later ignored.
However, the genocide then turned from an eminent threat to an active controversy. For civilians it was a matter of life and death, as United Nations failed to make any move. As peacekeepers valiantly fought on the ground for the lives of people, no move was made to strengthen or reinforce them, thus adding their names in the list of fatalities. Members of the troops were later transported and then withdrawn, instead of fighting on the ground. The death of 10 Belgian Peacekeepers instigated the peacekeepers to leave the school which was earlier used as a refugee shelter. This decision made by the member nations of the Security Council to withdraw troops became the cause of deaths of almost half a million Rwandans.
Following years after the incident, the United Nations Security Council, in fact, accepted that fact that because of their decisions, millions were massacred. Their lack of political will and poor judgement, poor crisis management and non-recognition of the issue as important, flamed the entire nation. The entire decision taken by the Security Council was itself a violation of the chapter VI of the UN charter (recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment).
Case Study – 2
It stands today, an undeniable fact that failure to abide with the Doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) resulted in escalation during ofthe Darfur conflict, which remains a challenge even today.
The oppression of non-Arabs by the Government of Sudan had greatly angered the Sudanese people, which lead into heavy criticism and further rise of rebel armed groups. Multiple attacks on the government gave a shaky start to the issue. In a desperate attempt to save it from power, it funded an Arab militant group, Janjaweed, who ruthlessly attacked villages, left thousands dead and massacred many without mercy using weapons.
How was UN accountable?
The only reaction that came from the United Nations was that of condemnation by the then Secretary General Kofi Anan. Apart from this, the United Nations did not play any role in the conflict. Rather, the United Nations appreciated the efforts of the African Union, who acted on this issue without any support from the West or from the UN.
The international community rather knew everything that was happening in Darfur. They lacked political will to act and thus could not afford another Rwanda on their hands. This small scale activity turned to be one of the largest frozen conflicts, just because the UN failed to react. The death toll subsequently rose; the Janjaweed stole the lives of many. The African Union could not control the flow of events and thus Sudan was forced to bear the torture all alone,
After heavy global criticism, less than 200 peacekeepers were sent to Darfur to help an already escalated conflict further escalate. The conflict stretched until 2010, inspite of heavy presence of the peacekeeping force. The UN, were too late to response, as the conflict consumed more than 300,000 Sudanese lives.
In a much hustle and bustle the Responsibility to Protect was loosely adopted by 170 countries. It can much wisely be said that the true test could have been experimented in this conflict and one can say without much hesitation that the principle was a failure.
Case Study 3 – The Cold War
The United States was under a leadership which held tight on democracy, quite contrary to that of the USSR which was Socialist. Because of this the USSR remained spectacle of its counterpart and continues to do so even today. Eventually, hostility rose between the nations right after the end of the Second World War. However, World War II had exhausted arms and thus there was no room left for more aggression, but the spark of hatred left no stones unturned. Nations in the world began to choose their sides, leading to the world division into two blocs, Soviet bloc and an American bloc.
Both countries expressed their hatred by takingopposite sides in issues, which later was seen during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
Incidentally the United States of America and the USSR were both P5 nations which had the veto power vested in them, as per the charter. Thus their positions on both the sides created chaos which soon became a threat to international peace and security.
Was UN affected in the Cold War?
Definitely, the main cause for the dissolution of the League of Nations was its inability to ensure collective security. It had been however hoped that the newly established United Nations would not face a similar fate. However, the Cold War exposed that like its predecessor, the UNO also did not offer sure collective security. This similarity is due to the fact that both the League and the United Nations are largely influenced by the Big Nations. The Charter had vested with all the P5 nations (United States of America, USSR, France, China and the United Kingdom) that if even one country opposes a treaty, declaration etc then it would be vetoed meaning that it will be dismissed without argument. The standing of a treaty or declaration therefore was dependent on the consent of the P5 and not a majority.
During the Cold War, both USA and USSR, being in deadlock, would constantly use their veto power as they never shared the same view of an issue or conflict, leading to complications. Making decisions in committee became extremely hard.
This event in history has eventually led us to question the relevance and effectiveness of veto powers and whether it is more important to gain the consent of big nation than gain a majority of all nations in the Council.
Threats in the 21st Century
The United Nations have to accept the reality that it is severely underequipped to handle some of the toughest situations of the 21st century.
Terrorism
Terrorism has become one of the dark parts of the world today, causing the death of many and instilling fear in the hearts of others. It claims the lives of innocent people who deserve to live a good and happy life. Countering terrorism and erasing it totally from the world is one of the aims of the United Nations.
However, looking around today, it is safe to say that terrorism still has its mark on the world, present in the form of Hamas, Hezbollah and many other terrorist organizations, still claiming lives, killing innocent and terrorizing society.
How was UN ineffective against terrorism?
The highjacking of El Al Israel Flight 416 by terrorists of Palestinian origin had bugled the rise of modern terrorism. The only response that came from the United Nations was condemnation.
The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in USA, however, questioned the response of United Nations against terrorismarguing their stand against violent militant threats. However, after 9/11, militaries all over the globe effectively increased their defence mechanism and began capturing and interrogating those found plotting against their nation. It is also important to understand that strong actions have only been taken by militant organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Taliban, while the world continued to threaten from Hamas. The nations harbouring their tier leaders have been widely criticised but no active actions have been taken against them.
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