Security. Economically, socially, and humanitarianly, speaking. As well as peace, are what the United Nations wished to provide when it was founded in 1945 (Amrith 254). Multiple different individuals from numerous countries, both east and west, aided in its installment. United States’ President Franklin Delanore Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor, were huge contributors to the founding of the United Nations (Amrith 253). The security and peace the U.N. was to provide was in high demand following World War II and so it was built around these ideas (Amrith 253). The first Article of the U.N. Charter plainly states that the purpose of the Security Council of the U.N. is to “take effective, collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace” (White 548). Furthermore, in the U.N.’s Responsibility to Protect idea, which, it should be noted, is not yet international law, states that it is a country’s job to protect their citizens from mass atrocities, however, if the nation fails to do that, it becomes the international community’s responsibility (White 545,547).
Recent events have, unfortunately, caused some to question whether the U.N. is fulfilling its purpose, and all because of one reason: the five veto powers present in Security Council (Reuters Para. 12). Currently the nations of the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia may veto any U.N. resolution regardless of opposition if they choose to (Amrith 255). The power has been with members of the Security Council since its beginning; however, it may be time to do away with it. The United Nations should abolish the veto power completely in Security Council to ensure all nations have an equal say in the committee and that countries a...
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...s. “Russia Vetoes U.N. Resolution That Won’t Recognize Crimea Vote.” NBCNews.com. 15 March 2014. NBCNews.com, 2014. Web. 25 March 2014 .
"Russia Scolded by France after Syria Veto." International Business Times, June 2. Web. 24 March 2014 .
White, Emily Kidd. "Humanity As The A And Ω Of Sovereignty: Four Replies To Anne Peters." European Journal Of International Law 20.3 (2009): 545-549. Web. 24 March 2014 .
Englund, Will. "Kremlin Says Crimea Is Now Officially Part of Russia after Treaty Signing, Putin Speech." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
...ary power to influence the decisions made not only by the Assad Regime in Syria but also to influence the likes of Israel and Saudi Arabia as she can have greater advantage in the future by having better relations with these nations. However, Putin’s Russa stopped all attempts made by the United States to make any intervention in Syria. On 19 July, 2013 Russia, for the third time, vetoed against the United Nations Resoltution that would have punished the Syrian government with economic sanctions for failing to carry out a peace plan. This shows the role of how power influences between the two nations.
The United Nations General Assembly 36-103 focused on topics of hostile relations between states and justification for international interventions. Specifically mentioned at the UNGA was the right of a state to perform an intervention on the basis of “solving outstanding international issues” and contributing to the removal of global “conflicts and interference". (Resolution 36/103, e). My paper will examine the merits of these rights, what the GA was arguing for and against, and explore relevant global events that can suggest the importance of this discussion and what it has achieved or materialized.
Myers, Steven. “Russian Troops Mass at Border with Ukraine.” NY Times Website. March 13, 2014. Accessed May 15, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/world/europe/ukraine.html.
H W R Wade ‘The Basis of Legal Sovereignty’ (1995) 172 Cambridge Law Journal 186.
Gumuchian, Marie-Louise, Ben Wedeman, and Ian Lee. "Ukraine Mobilizes Troops after Russia's 'declaration of War'" CNN. Cable News Network, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
...ractices of other branches of power that the UN cannot grasp upon. In contrast, the virtues of the UN remain undeniably consistent throughout history, but the powers and legislative action the organization fluctuates due to the constant uprising of conflict. However, throughout the history of the 20th century and post Cold – War conflict, the organization's extensiveness has increased, such through the actions of the Non-proliferation treaty of nuclear weapons, and the ongoing tasks of UN Peacekeeping missions. These actions reflected upon the UN fiasco of the Cold War, demonstrate the emerging “politico-economic” society, by laying a prodigious impact of the world via its numerous stretches of the organization.
For the past several months the United Nations’ Security Council has debated on whether or not to accept the U.S. proposal to force Iraq to comply the new and former resolutions. The new resolution calls for complete disarmament of Iraq and the re-entrance of weapons inspectors into Iraq. If Iraq fails to comply, then military force would be taken in order to disarm Iraq. This proposal met opposition from council members Russia, China, and France. They thought that the U.S. proposal was too aggressive and that the U.S. should not act alone without U.N. approval. For weeks they refused to believe that the only way to make Iraq disarm is through the threat of force and the fear of being wiped out.
Gordon, Michael. "Crimea Approves a Secession Vote as Tensions Rise." The New York Times. The New York Times, 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .
The current international crisis involving Russia and Ukraine developed in the aftermath of the 2014 revolution in Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich was impeached and quickly fled the capital. An interim government formed around Oleksandr Turchynov as the acting president. Germany and the US quickly recognized this new government, while Russia did not. In late February, pro-Russian militias began taking control of Crimea, a part of eastern Ukraine. Gradually they dominated the peninsula and effectively took control of it. Soon after, the Crimeans held a referendum, and overwhelmingly decided to join Moscow. The West and interim Ukrainian government condemned this decision, as did the UN General Assembly. Nonetheless, Russia has effectively absorbed Crimea.
The focus of this paper is on the United Nations Security Council reform issue. It will start by giving some history on the United Nations charter and the Security Council. This background will set up a discussion on the past and present proposals to reform the Security Council. I will also offer analysis on the feasibility of these reform proposals. I will then discuss what the key countries think about Security Council reform.
1. As far as peace keeping methods go, the reputation of the United Nations is very pitiable. This is not only because they have not been doing their job to it’s fullest extent, but also because the member states on the security council haven’t given the UN the power it needs if it is to be a successful force in peace keeping methods.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, wanted to take over Ukraine, Crimea specifically for geopolitical reasons. Vladimir Putin approved military action in Ukraine because it “reserves the right to defend its interests and the Russian speaking people who live there” (Saeed, Gu...
The process of reforming the United Nations (UN) has been a highly debatable issue among the international community. Since the initial signing of the UN Charter in 1945, the world has changed dramatically as the UN is trying to regulate a forum that assesses and deals with global issues while also struggling to unite all 193 member states of the UN when some states have been seen to have conflicting ideas and personal agendas (Teng, 2003, pp. 2-3). This essay is targeted to highlight what I feel are the most pressing arguments for UN reform amongst the international community. This will be done by highlighting the problems and ongoing issues surrounding the lack of representation and P5 power of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), arguing that the UNSC is out of date and controlled egotistically. This essay will also highlight the humanitarian aspect of the UN and the role it plays in meeting and solving complex global problems. This will be done by showing reform propositions in the aforementioned councils in the UN in hopes of showing how reform will be achieved.
Fifty-one countries established the United Nations also known as the UN on October 24, 1945 with the intentions of preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Over the years the UN has grown in numbers to include 185 countries, thus making the organization and its family of agencies the largest in an effort to promote world stability. Since 1954 the UN and its organizations have received the Nobel Peace Prize on 5 separate occasions. The first in 1954 awarded to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, for its assistance to refugees, and finally in 1988 to the United Nations Peace-keeping Forces, for its peace-keeping operations. As you can see, the United Nations efforts have not gone without notice.