How does IR Theory explain the United Nation’s contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security?
“More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that is why we have the United Nations.” (Annan: 2001)
It is generally considered that international organisations ought to stand accountable for the preservation of global stability and peace, be this social, financial or diplomatic; also they must perform in the benefit of the international society.
The UN was formed for the principle of advocating and maintaining international peace and security, which combines many responsibilities to re- picture the world in a new reasonable way. Tim Dunne describes United Nations as “a multi-purpose agency directed to specific goals including collective security, peace-keeping, health, environmental and human rights concerns” (Dunne, 2007, p.103). Provided that the UN is a ‘multi-purpose’ organization, it will be improper to explain its contribution to the international scene centered on a specific objective; therefore this paper will present a description of UN and its activities, followed by an empirical assessment of Realism in United Nations peacekeeping. The closing section will portray a perspective of the IR theory that is relevant to the UN role in maintaining peace and security.
The UN peace and security activities have climbed to unmistakable quality as tools of international activity because of its promise of the formation of extra impartial world. After its beginning in 1945, the UN embraced the idea of collective security, played an important part in decolonization and began a range of activities like peacekeeping, peacemaking, peace enf...
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...ing model conflict resolver.
The last method with which IR describes United Nations contribution to peace is as a perception of humanitarian intervention. Collectively with the proposal of Responsibility to Protect, the perception of humanitarian intervention is a segment of extensive collection of principles and conflict-management tools that have helped to improve the world. These models have caused the decline of mass atrocities, war, genocide, and armed conflicts (Western, 2011).
As this paper has established, the topic “How IR explain UN contribution to peace and security” has a range of views and understandings subject to the school of thought one pursues. IR theory is a significant field in comprehending international matters specifically reducing the prospects of war; significantly this theory has grown to become a fundamental facet of United 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.
The example given was the newly independent state of the Congo that became trapped in the global conflict between the Soviets and the Americans. Consequently, the United Nations was pulled on the forefront of this global conflict. If anything, Mr. Sullivan believes that the struggle of good versus evil that blurred established differences between domestic and international issues “increased in the post-Cold War era of accelerated
United Nations (UN) - An organization of sovereign nations with the main goal being the maintenance of international peace and security (United Nations, 1982). The UN was founded in 1945, during the final weeks of World War II. According to the Charter of the United Nations, this organization was made through the people’s feelings towards war and does not want future generations to suffer the untold sorrow that comes with it (United Nations, 1987). At first UN peacekeeping missions, which is handled by the Security Council, was limited to maintaining ceasefires among nations. These ceasefires were maintained through light military activity and limited peace agreements. As time went by, their peacekeeping missions involved stricter military activity, but this strategy did not prevent the Cold War from occurring. The Cold War needed a much more thought out strategy since there was no actual ‘military war.’ After 66 years of the UN being formed, the peacekeeping situation has gone away from its promise of the future generations not going through the war like atmosphere during the early and mid 1900s. Nothing as catastrophic as the two World Wars has occurred, but there have been events following the formation of UN that they could have handled in a better way. These events have been a key reason why they have not been a successful peacekeeping organization. The events that mirror the failures of UN peacekeeping include the India vs. Pakistan conflicts which still rage on today with multiple bombings still occurring in India, the Rwanda Genocide where more than 800,000 people died in 1994 at Rwanda following the killing of their President, and the Congo Crisis which was followed by the independence of Congo from Belgium.
UN peacekeeping forces are facing huge challenges through history and this has the major reflection of UN performance we viewed through history. 1. Un doesn`t have a base location around the world (except one in the USA), and this reflects the relation and perspective with the rest of the world. 2. UN doesn’t have their own military, so they have to request military forces different countries after they get the approval from the UN representative. 3. The military they gather
The Security Council of the United Nations has the primary responsibility under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
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.
Throughout its history the United Nations has sought to preserve fundamental human rights as well as promote social progress and better the standards of life throughout every corner of the world. UN peacekeeping operations are deployed with the consent of the main parties to the conflict. This requires a commitment by the parties to a political process. Their acceptance of a peacekeeping operation provides the UN with the necessary freedom of action, both political and physical, to carry out its mandated tasks. In the absence of such consent, a peacekeeping operation risks becoming a party to the conflict; and being drawn towards enforcement action, and away from its fundamental role of keeping the peace. The fact that the main parties have given their consent to the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation does not necessarily imply or guarantee that there will also be consent at the local level, particularly if the main parties are internally divided or have weak command and control systems. Universality of consent becomes even less probable in volatile settings, characterized by the presence of armed groups not under the control of any of the parties, or by the presence of other
As the former employee of the United Nations, the author discusses the challenges, strengths, and weaknesses of the UN and the reasons why it has not always been successful as the only most respected organization which act as a platform for international collaborations. According to the author, despite, the UN since its creation had commendable achievements in education, economic, social and humanitarian issues, yet it has not been more than just a platform for discussion and dialogue in other important global matters like international peace and security. As a result many of the member states including the civil societies and international organizations have always been complaining of the unjust and unfair internal structure of the UN, which often block the path toward an effective global governance. The complexity of the internal structure of the UN obviously raised concerns over issues of access to, and fair participation in the international affairs among the member states.
UN is the most influential and credible organization in the world to deal with any security issues of the world. “The global reach and intergovernmental character of the UN give it considerable influence” Membership of all independent states automatically makes it credible third party and mediator in any conflict. Besides, UN with its functional agencies such as: UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP, WFP, WHO etc. conduct various programmes for the betterment of the world which further enhance its credibility. Though UN is not out of controversy, but there is no alternative available for the world community. The regional organizations such as: NATO, African Union etc. sometimes take lead role in mitigating conflicts, but their credibility in the eyes of the world is no match with that of
... (Karlsrud, 2015). Despite the UN’s involvement in peacekeeping and mediation, the concept of stabilization is actually conflicting to what the UN peacekeeping operations are intended to accomplish. In most cases, these UN missions were not given a specific mandate endowed with peace-enforcement, but rather a general mission to ‘neutralize’ the intended state, and protect the civilians using all indispensable means.
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that was formed after the Second World War. The main purpose of UN is to provide security and peace at the international level, resolve conflicts and protect human rights. The UN also promotes international co-operation by maintaining global social, political and economic conditions. However, it is difficult for many countries in the UN to partake in the decision-making because the UN is made up of different countries that have distinct political systems and ideologies. In the past, the UN has helped strengthen international law by developing treaties on human rights, global crime, and other topics of concern.
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.
Firstly, the UN is a forum for discussion. It facilitates dialogue between small countries, powerful countries, and non-state actors in a way that allows for the potential of non-violent settlements. This is something that no other nation-state has ever been able to accomplish, and is a very valuable asset to the international community. One of the four purposes listed on the UN's website is “to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights”. The UN's representative assemblies are a catalyst for creating multilateral agreements for these international problems before those issues come to a head, or within a quick enoug...
IOs and states play a critical role in maintaining world peace and security. The United Nations (UN), in particular, is the centerpiece of global governance with respect to the maintenance of world peace. The UN provides general guidelines for all the states on how to solve potential conflicts and maintain international o...
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.