US POLITICS

US Politics

US Politics

Introduction

Since the early 1990s, the UN has played a central role in the implementation of conflict prevention and resolution strategies. As a rule, the UN is automatically involved in peace missions. The existence of an international organization that is able to deploy soldiers supplied by member countries in order to maintain or restore an often fragile peace is a new development of historic significance. Over the past 50 years, the UN has sent hundreds of thousands of Blue Helmets (i.e., peace forces) to carry out a variety of observations and to monitor missions designed to help prevent a resumption of hostilities. Since the end of the Cold War, the UN has adopted two additional goals: (1) creating conditions for a lasting peace settlement and (2) supporting efforts toward reconciliation and reconstruction in societies that have experienced violent conflicts. This expanded agenda explains the significant increase in peacekeeping missions during the past decade (Mango, 2003).

However, the consequences of recent violence in Sierra Leone echo loud in the coming years. Again, a peacekeeping operation United Nations lies in ruins. In fact, for many analysts, Africa in particular has become a fiasco for the UN, after the failure of almost all its operations peacekeeping. This is compounded by situations such as Kosovo or occurring in the last bombing of Iraq, where the UN was not taken into account. Critics say the body's peacekeeping operations are poorly planned and sent staff totally inadequate equipment, undermining the prestige of the body. They add further that lacks sufficient credibility to become an entity of regional and global stability. Others claim that part of the problem is the lack of political will of major powers to provide sufficient resources to the UN and give the necessary support in peacekeeping missions. This paper argues that the events that took place in places like Rwanda, Congo, Darfur, Iraq and other post war or cold war are clear examples that UN has not been successful in preventing wars.

Discussion

The United Nations (UN) was founded in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II to replace the League of Nations. Its 51 founding countries committed themselves to the maintenance of peace and international security, the improvement of living standards, and the support of social progress and human rights. Its member states have now risen to 192, and the main goal of the United Nations and its different agencies is to encourage networks both among different countries as well as within single nations to work on fundamental issues such as peacekeeping, conflict prevention, sustainable development, human rights protection and gender equality, disaster relief, and disarmament. The Preamble to the UN Charter states that the organization will “employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.” The image of “international machinery” highlights how the different states are part of the same mechanism and contribute to its efficiency. The great number of representatives from different countries creates networking opportunities between member ...