United Nations Strengths and Weaknesses Essay

Introduction

According to Schnabel (304), the United Nations (herein referred to as the UN) is an international body charged with the responsibility of maintaining international peace. In addition, the body is charged with the responsibility of ensuring international security, cooperation, as well as social and economic development.

Schnabel (305) further insists that these responsibilities of the UN can only be achieved through collaboration with member states and employees of the organization at the grassroots level, especially women and children, who are war victims. The UN is also mandated to ensure that member states adhere to the provisions of international laws, such as human rights (United Nations Education for Conflict Prevention 205).

The body was set up back in the year 1945 as a replacement of the League of Nations. The need to replace the League of Nations with the United Nations was largely inspired by the failure of the League of Nations to prevent the outbreak of war among nations.

To ensure that the UN does not fail as its predecessor, the League of Nations, it is important to educate members of the public to enhance global peace (United Nations Education for Conflict Prevention 205). It is noted that the League of Nations was set up immediately after the end of the First World War. The establishment was meant to prevent outbreaks of war between nations in the future.

The outbreak of the Second World War, therefore, meant that the League of Nations had failed in its mandate to promote and maintain international peace. As a result of this, world leaders saw the need of creating a stronger organization that will prevent the outbreak of what came to be referred to as the ‘Third World War’. The United Nations was, therefore, formed in the process.

The UN intends to achieve international peace through democratic and peaceful means, rather than through the use of force. Doyle claims that “democracy promotes peace and mutual respect among democratic people” (p. 5). He goes ahead to state that democracy promotes human rights and decreases state repression (Doyle 4). According to the scholar, “…….democratic liberalism embodies a constitutional government” (Doyle 6).

Though the United Nations is regarded as a body that is totally independent from the League of Nations, the organization borrowed a lot from the latter’s organizational structure. Furthermore, the League of Nations remained in existence to see to it that the United Nations was successfully established.

According to Drezner (9), the League of Nations shielded the UN from financial and logistic crisis during its formative stages. The observation explains the reason why the League of Nations was formally dissolved on April 1946, whereas the United Nation was formerly formed in October 1945 (Drezner 9).

Membership to the organization is open to any nation in the world, provided the aspiring member meets the laid down requirements.

Critics have accused the organization of favoring developed nations, especially the United States of America, thus undermining the trust of other nations as far as the organization is concerned. According to Ruggie (32), the United Nations has in the past been criticized for protecting the interests of the developed countries at the expense of the developing nations in such fields as oil mining. T

he current paper seeks to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the United Nations. In addition, the author suggests ways through which the United Nations can be strengthened to make the organization more effective in fulfilling its mandate.

Literature Review

A Comparative Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the United Nations

According to Jomo (205), good governance among world leaders would help in solving local problems, thus leaving the UN with the responsibility of solving international conflicts. Doyle claims that “politics is a dangerous jungle” (p. 5).

Therefore, changing the political environment in the world will go a long way in changing the character of nations. World leaders must, however, embrace these changes through peaceful consensus in their countries.

It is important to note that the United Nations may lack the capacity to solve each and every crisis in the world today. However, this notwithstanding, the organization has effectively enhance international peace since 1945. Since the inception of the organization, there has never been any major world dispute threatening international peace (Jomo 204).

The United Nations has several strengths that have helped it carry out its mandate over the years. One of the major strengths of the United Nations is the frequent funding by the member nations, nongovernmental organizations, and other well wishers.

The role of the United Nations in ensuring worldwide peace and security has earned the body wide spread support from well wishers across the globe (“Welcome to the United Nations: It’s your World” par. 1). To this end, many corporations have in the past made contributions to the United Nations.

The contributions from such corporations and other well wishers come in the form of monetary funding, as well as the provision of the necessary equipment and personnel to support United Nations’ programs. In addition, member nations make contributions to the United Nations to help the organization carry out its responsibilities effectively.

The contributions help in sustaining the organization’s ongoing projects, as well as facilitate the implementation of new ones. Needless to say, policy implementation and commissioning of projects requires a great deal of funding from member countries. The United Nations comprises of 193 member states, thus assuring the organization of worldwide support.

Doyle states that “multilateral support offered by states is useful since it frees the United Nations from the taint of foreign control” (p. 6). In addition to the support, funding enables the organization to adequately carry out its internal affairs, such as the remuneration of staff working in its various agencies (Carpenter 25). Availability of funding ensures that the existence of this organization is not threatened.

As much as the funding issue is one of the major strengths of the United Nations, it is also one of its major weaknesses. Carpenter (28) is of the view that funding remains a major weakness in the United Nations. Contributions made to the organization are not adequate enough to fund all of its activities.

According to Carpenter (28), some of the operations carried out by UN, such as military and naval engagements, are very expensive. The organization requires a lot of funds to sustain such activities. As a result, the organization finds itself unable to implement large projects that require huge capital investments.

Unwillingness by member nations to make their contributions to the organization also comes as a major weakness to the United Nations. The United Nations, which is an international organization, requires a considerably large amount of funding. However, the organization survives on a budget that is less than that of the New York City. Some nations may fail to, or delay, in making their contributions.

The failure delays the implementation of the projects initiated by the organization. Issues related to funding have raised concerns over the capability of the organization to maintain lasting peace and development among the communities and nations in the world. The UN has gone to the extent of borrowing from its developed member states (Simmons 58).

The United Nations leads in championing for human and civilian rights in the world, leaving the general population with no option but to trust the organization (Drezner 11). The involvement of the body in many peaceful negotiations and diplomatic talks in the world today can also be considered as one of the factors promoting its popularity around the world (Moravcsik 16).

In addition to this, the contribution made by the organization towards the fight against colonization and apartheid helped it gain popularity among many African and Asian leaders. The leaders of these nations were encouraged to join the organization after having acquired independence from their colonial masters.

Close to all Asian and African countries are members of the UN. The large number of members assures the organization of widespread support in the two regions.

However, the inability of the United Nations to achieve universal consensus is a major weakness, which affects its operations. Many nations condemn some of the actions taken by the United Nations, thus threatening the organization’s influence over international matters. According to Nye (70), it is obvious that not all parties will be favored by the decisions taken by the UN, which may at times cause conflicts between member states.

Some critics have labeled the organization as being partial, raising queries about its ability to fairly deal with matters affecting international peace and security (United Nations Arab Human Development 203). The organization is, for instance, accused of partiality as far as the incursion of the United States of America in Iraq is concerned. Moravcsik states that “democracy should not be forced nor imposed” (p. 17).

The Bush Administration was completely wrong to meddle with Iraq affairs, although the attack was seen to be in good faith. The body failed to stop the United States of America from fighting Iraq, a situation that saw the organization lose favor among many Arab nations in the world.

Failure by the United Nations to intervene in the war between Palestine and Israel also raised questions over its credibility and ability to handle international matters. Moreover, the United Nations failed to condemn NATO’s bombing over the former Yugoslavia, a situation that raised concerns over the organizations ability to solve matters without taking sides.

The United Nations imposed trade sanctions on Zimbabwe, claiming that the country is undemocratic. The sanctions were seen by many as an indication of the organization’s favoritism towards the interests of the United Kingdom in the country.

The organization lacks a military force. However, this lack of a military force does not prevent the body from imposing military sanctions on terrorists and other unlawful elements in the world today. Carpenter states that “there is no Global police force to combat crime” (p. 26). A good example of such situations is the just concluded war against the Al-Shabaab militants by the Kenyan army.

With the help of the Kenyan Defense Forces, the United Nations finally liberated the Somali people from the militia rule. According to Nye (69), the United Nations uses intelligence information provided by member countries to prevent the occurrence of war and disputes.

The agreement to share resources between member states has also seen the agencies run by the United Nations use member countries’ resources in times of crisis. Kenya, for example, was used to shelter hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia.

Another weakness is the organization’s overdependence on developed nations. The overdependence has greatly impacted on the organization’s ability to make impartial decisions (United Nations Year in Review 80). Since these nations make some of the major contributions to the United Nations, the body finds it hard to impose sanctions on them.

The development raises doubts over the ability of the United Nations to solve disputes impartially. For example, the United States of America has in the past been condemned over its interference with the decision made by the organization.

The United States of America has in the past been accused of hoarding nuclear weapons, yet the UN has done nothing about it. The interference means that the organization makes decision that favors the country over others in the world.

How the United Nations can be Made More Effective

The success of the United Nations is attributed to the overall success of its various agencies (United Nations Towards a Green Economy 620). The effectiveness of the various agencies will, therefore, ultimately translate to the effectiveness of the entire body. Though the United Nations has successfully averted the outbreak of a ‘Third World War’, a lot can still be done to improve the effectiveness of the organization.

Adequate funding is one of the most effective means of improving the operations of the United Nations. Lack of a regular budget negatively affects the ability of the organization to carry out its responsibilities effectively and within the set time lines. The United Nations, as a body, does not have a reliable and regular source of revenue.

Consequently, the organization has to depend on the governments of the member countries for annual funding (Telhami 46). In addition, the body lacks the mechanism to get the much required funds from the governments without their consent. Telhami (46) insists that the attitude that nations have towards the United Nations leaves the organization at the mercies of the member states.

Seeking an alternative form of revenue for the body will, therefore, improve the effectiveness of the organization. Though some critics argue that the United Nations should be a non- profitable organization, generating income would go a long way in making the organization more independent from the member states, especially the developed countries.

As earlier indicated in this paper, the developed nations are the largest contributors to the budget of the United Nations. As a result, the developed nations take advantage of the United Nations, using the organization as a platform to push for their agendas in international forums. It is the obligation of each and every member state to see to it that the United Nations is adequately funded.

The organization is an international body charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the welfare of the entire world (Doyle 4). Taxing powers will, for instance, go a long way in providing adequate and regular income to the organization.

Member states can make the United Nations more effective by enhancing the implementation of the organization’s laws and policies at the local level. Governments can ease the work of the United Nations by taking responsibility over all the activities taking place within their borders.

The laws of the United Nations laws should be integrated into local laws and constitutions to ensure that the laws governing member countries are in line with the guidelines set by the United Nations at the international level.

According to Ruggie (34), countries should formulate their own policies to regulate the activities of people and groups operating within their territories. According to Drezner (9), a responsible nation will not require a lot of monitoring, which is the case with failed governments that have to be assisted every now and then to restore peace and order within their borders.

Member nations should also strive to safeguard human rights. Human rights are universal, meaning that it is the responsibility of each and every government to protect its people. Simmons states that “governments should protect their own” (p. 58). Since no government has the jurisdiction to operate outside its borders, the United Nations is left with the responsibility of restoring international peace, law, and order.

Peaceful co-existence can be achieved through such activities as constitutional reforms, disarming citizens, as well as prosecuting and punishing individuals who breach the internationally set laws.

By so doing, the governments will ease the responsibility of the United Nations, which will help the organization to focus on more serious issues, such as promoting international peace and security, as well as dealing with various natural disasters, such as famine.

The issue of veto power is a matter of concern for most critics. The various critics feel that decisions affecting the entire world are left at the hands of only a few nations. The five veto powers do not even make up 5 percent of the world’s population. Terminating such a system will be a major step towards improving the effectiveness of the United Nations.

In the past, the five veto powers, which are China, Russia, United States, United Kingdom, and France, have used the organization to settle their differences. They do this by associating themselves with decisions that best suit their interests. The organization was, for instance, used as a front to propagate the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union (Goldstein and Pevehouse 56).

The same organization was supposed to put an end to the cold war. The elimination of Veto powers will also create a feeling of equality and fairness among nations. It will mean that other nations are free to give their views on global matters. Therefore, individual and community interests will be effectively addressed in the process.

Conclusion

The success of the United Nations in fulfilling its mandate is entirely dependent on its various strengths and weaknesses. Funding the organization, for instance, has greatly affected the ability of the body to carry out its mandate in the recent past. Availability of funds is the driving force behind the success of any organization.

The organization, however, lacks a stable source of income, hampering its ability to fulfill its mandate at times. The ability to make impartial decisions is vital in ensuring the success of the United Nations. However, overdependence on member states deprives the organization of the ability to be impartial.

The popularity of the organization is the world will go a long way in promoting its effectiveness. It is, therefore, the responsibility of member nations to strengthen their organization for a better tomorrow.

Works Cited

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