The United Nations and The Rwnada Genocide Case

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Recommended: History

United Nations: Looking at History, Structure, Purpose,

And the Rwanda Genocide Case to Understand Its Relevance

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that plays the lead role in international security affairs and peacekeeping operations. The UN was created right after WWII in 1945 in order to increase international order and prevent another World War. State sovereignty is one of the primary reasons why an organization such as the UN is necessary. The fact that there is no world government to coordinate the actions of states demands that a world organization holds at least an advisory position in world affairs. However, it must be noted that sovereignty can limit the power of the UN because sovereignty dictates non-intervention in other state affairs. This can sometimes cause problems when there are violations of human rights and the UN must decide if they have the right to intervene and infringe on state sovereignty. Evidently, the UN has its strengths and weaknesses, but it focuses on facilitating the peaceful resolution of international disputes (Helms 3). Overall, the UN is relevant because it is the sole global institutional structure where states can resolve their problems without using force. At the same time, however, the UN needs to improve some of its operations in order to be more effective. Thus, this paper will discuss the purposes, structure, and history of the UN with a focus on its peacekeeping operations. The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 will be examined in detail to understand the shortcomings of UN peacekeeping operations in order to evaluate how it can be improved for future generations.

The history of the UN cannot be talked about without first discussing the League of Nations. The UN i...

... middle of paper ...

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Helms, Jesse. "Saving The U.N." Foreign Affairs 75.5 (1996): 2-7. Academic Search Premier.

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Power, Samantha. "Bystanders to Genocide." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 01 Sept.

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Power, Samantha. "Never Again: The World's Most Unfulfilled Promise." Frontline. Public

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Straus, Scott. "Darfur and the Genocide Debate." Foreign Affairs Jan.-Feb. 2005: 123-33. Print.

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