The United Nations and The Rwnada Genocide Case

2109 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

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 ...

...2004. DVD.

Goldstein, Joshua S., and Jon C. Pevehouse. International Relations, Brief Edition, 2012-2013

Update. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.

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

Web. 16 May 2014.

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

2001. Web. 01 May 2014.

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

Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.

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

Tharoor, Shashi. "Why America Still Needs The United Nations." Foreign Affairs 82.5 (2003):

67-80. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2014.

Touval, Saadia. "Why The U.N. Fails." Foreign Affairs 73.5 (1994): 44-57. Academic Search

Premier. Web. 16 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Genocide Persuasive Essay

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    Genocide is a pressing issue with a multitude of questions and debates surrounding it. It is the opinion of many people that the United Nations should not get involved with or try to stop ongoing genocide because of costs or impositions on the rights of a country, but what about the rights of an individual? The UN should get involved in human rights crimes that may lead to genocide to prevent millions of deaths, save money on humanitarian aid and clean up, and fulfill their responsibilities to stop such crimes. It is preferable to stop genocide before it occurs through diplomacy, but if necessary, military force may be used as a last resort. Navi Pillay, Human Rights High Commissioner, stated, “Concerted efforts by the international community at critical moments in time could prevent the escalation of violence into genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing.”

    Read More

  • Nicaragua and the United States: 1940s – 2000’s

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    "History, UN, United Nations, Charter, Chronology." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • Genocide Intervention: Global Responsibility or Financial Drain?

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    The biggest war the world has ever seen was World War II. What was one factor that led to such a quick escalation? Genocide. Over 45 million people were murdered during this tragic time. The question is: was it the allies responsibility to intervene? The answer: No. The Global Community has no responsibility to intervene in states committing genocide.

    Read More

  • Genocide in Rwanda: Extreme Denial of Human Rights

    1536 Words  | 4 Pages

    Former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali once said, "We were not realizing that with just a machete, you can do a genocide." To be candid, nobody anticipated the Rwandan Genocide that occurred in 1994. The genocide in Rwanda was an infamous blood-red blur in modern history where almost a million innocent people were murdered in cold blood. Members of the Tutsi tribe were systematically hacked or beaten to death by members of the Interahamwe, a militia made up of Hutu tribe members. In just 100 days, from April 6, 1994 to mid-July, 20% of Rwanda's population was killed; about 10,000 people a day. Bodies literally were strewn over city streets. Genocide obviously violates almost all articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; however, the article I find most important is Article 3 - the right to life, liberty, and personal security. In just 100 days, one million people were denied the most basic privilege granted to every human – the right to live, simply because they were born to the wrong tribe.

    Read More

  • The Genocides of the 20th Century

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    The genocides of the 20th century which occurred in Rwanda and Germany had striking similarities, something that should have alerted the world to stop them. At the core of these two massacres, patterns existed that outlined how similar thinking and reasoning could lead to something as horrible as these two events. One can see how both groups used their command of knowledge as a way to control the people, how the rest of the world refused to step up to stop the killings, and how the people were thought of as less than humans to provide a just cause for such terrible acts.

    Read More

  • Rwandan Genocide: Unraveling a Historical Catastrophe

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in history caused by a constantly weakening relationship between two groups of people. The country of Rwanda is located in Africa and consists of multiple groups of people. Majority of Rwanda is Hutu, while a smaller amount of people are Tutsis. The genocide started due to multiple events that really stretched the relationship between the two groups to its end. One of the starting factors was at the end of World War 1. Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power then Hutus.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Between Rwanda and Darfur Genocide, from the Constructivism and Realism Perspectives

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    The analysis of the genocides that took place both in Rwanda and Sudan’s Darfur region exhibit some similarities as well as differences. The character of violence was similar in both cases, but in Rwanda the violence was more intense, participatory, and extraordinary. The violence in these two places took place in an environment that had experienced civil wars. It was a period of political transition which was further aggravated by ethnic nationalism and a conflict of ethnic populations that were living in close proximity. However, in the Rwandan genocide, the state is more centralized, compact, and effective. This is what explains the intensity and variation. The international response to these genocides through observers emphasized on using the genocide label to create domestic constituencies especially in the Rwandan case.

    Read More

  • League Of Nations Essay

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    The League of Nations was an Intergovernmental Organisation which persisted from 1919 up until 1946 where it was formally replaced with the United Nations towards the end of the Second World War. Many consider the League as one of the International Systems greatest failures due to it being widely regarded as an ‘ineffective instrument to tackle aggressors’ (Catterall, 1999, p. 52) and its inherent failure to prevent international conflict. However,

    Read More

  • Kofi Annan Genocide

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kofi Annan’s life experiences that influenced him to work for the UN started when he went to a Methodist Boarding school, he was taught that "suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere." He then went on to study at four different colleges and got a masters degree in International Relations. He got a job with the UN as a budget official, and slowly worked his way up. For 9 years, he was an assistant Secretary General for 3 different organizations. While doing so, the Rwandan Genocide took place, and Annan was highly criticized for the way he handled it. He took responsibility for his actions. This lead to him finally being voted in to be the new Secretary-General, where he stayed for 10 years.

    Read More

  • First World War The League of Nations

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the United States the league was met with fierce opposition from those who thought it unwise to enter America into a collective organization, which would restrict its power and influence. Congress especially concerned with Article X, which morally bound the U.S. to aid any member of the League of Nations that was victimized by aggression, and revoke...

    Read More

  • United Nations Security Council Reform

    5425 Words  | 11 Pages

    Fifty-eight years after the signing of the Charter, the world has changed dramatically. Its universal character and comprehensiveness make the United Nations a unique and indispensable forum for governments to work together to address global issues. At the same time, there remains a large gap between aspiration and real accomplishment. There have been many successes and many failures. The United Nations is a bureaucracy that struggles – understandably – in its attempt to bring together 191 countries. It must come at no surprise, therefore, that a consensus cannot always be reached with so many different competing voices.

    Read More

  • United Nations

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    3.     The UN structure is a very well thought-out one. The UN contains over 150 countries, with 5 main heads of state. These 5 countries are America, France, Great Britain, Russia and China. The 5 head countries always make the decision on whether to help a country that is in need or not. The basic structure is that there is a general assembly, which is the head of the UN. Off that there are 5 separately run systems, which are International court of justice, Economic and social council, Security Council, secretariat and the trainee council. All have different, yet major roles in striving to make the UN a success.

    Read More

  • Humanitarian Intervention

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    The complex issue of humanitarian intervention is widely argued and inherently controversial. Humanitarian intervention involves the coercive action of states intervening in areas for the sole purpose of preventing or halting the killing or suffering of the people there. (1, 9, 5) It is an issue argued fervently amongst restrictionists and counter-restrictionists, who debate over whether humanitarian intervention is a breach of international law or a moral requirement. (10) Restrictionists argue that Articles 2 (7) and 2 (4) of the United Nations (UN) Charter render forcible humanitarian intervention illegal. The only legitimate exception to this, they claim, is the right to self defence, as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. (1-472) This position is contested by counter-restrictionists, who insist that any and all nations have the right, and the responsibility, to prevent humanitarian disasters. (8-5) Despite the declaration of a ‘new world order’, the post-Cold war world has not been a more peaceful one: regional and ethnic conflicts have, in fact, proliferated. Between 1989 and 1993, for example, thirteen new peacekeeping operations were launched by th...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Humanitarian Intervention

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although, within the U.N. Charter of 1945, Article 2(4) prohibits the use of force against ‘the territorial integrity or political independence of any state’ (U.N. Charter, art.2 para.4), it has been suggested by counter-restrictionist international lawyers, that humanitarian intervention does not fall under these criteria, making it legally justifiable under the U.N. Charter (e.g. Damrosch 1991:219 in Baylis and Smith 2001: 481). However, this viewpoint lacks credibility, as it is far from the general international consensus, and unlikely the initial intentions of the draftsmen of the charter. In more recent times, one can examine the emerging doctrine of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’(RtoP), which was adopted unanimously by the UN in 2005, as a far more persuasive example of modern legitimacy of humanitarian intervention. While not consolidated within international law, RtoP, which promotes humanitarian intervention where sovereign states fail in their own responsibility to protect their citizens, does use legal language and functions as a comprehensive international framework to prevent human rights

    Read More

  • The United Nations

    310 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The United Nations and The Rwnada Genocide Case

Open Document