The United Nations at 70

Admin 22-Sep-2015 17:45:51 Inothernews

The United Nations at 70


The UN will formally celebrate its 70 “birthday” next month and world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are gathering in New York for the beginning of its annual session to mark this significant occasion. The organisation plays a crucial and, in many areas, a central role in global affairs. If judged by human timelines it is now old. This is therefore an appropriate time to reflect upon it. The UN was established by the victors of the Second World War to prevent war and maintain peace. While doing so it was meant to set up a world order that would safeguard the interests of these countries—US, UK, France, Russia and China. They ensured that issues of war and peace and of international security were dealt with not in a democratic manner in the General Assembly of the organisation but in its Security Council of which they would be permanent members and where they could veto any proposal without assigning any reason. No mechanism was provided to override a veto. The Security Council was empowered to impose sanctions against a country that all member states had to mandatorily follow; it was also given the power to directly use force to establish peace in a conflict situation or maintain it in some cases. The UN is not an impartial body to ensure justice and equity for its members. India learnt this lesson soon after independence when the vacation of Pakistan’s aggression in Kashmir was taken up at India’s request by the Security Council. It was considered by permanent members in the light of their national interests and not impartially. In fact the UN could not even become the forum to reconcile the competing interests of the victorious countries. The world descended into a Cold War between the US and its allies and the USSR and the communist bloc by 1947 which lasted till the end of this conflict in 1991 when the Soviet Union imploded. Through these decades where the interests of the two superpowers directly clashed the UN was a bystander to war and genocide and human suffering. However where these camps could reconcile their interests the UN was the forum that was formally used. While the UN failed to prevent international violence and war it did help in the orderly dissolution of European empires and the emerging of new countries in the 1950s and the next decade. The UN also assisted in social and economic development process and in the cultural sphere through its numerous specialised agencies. The role of its humanitarian agencies has been laudable too. However in all these areas its activities were dominated by the philosophies and ideas that emanated in the developed world. In the past seventy years the world has been totally transformed. From 50 members, including India the UN membership stands at 193. The global power balance has changed—the Soviet Union is gone and a much weaker Russia has taken its place. France and Britain have lost clout and weight. The losers of the Second World War—Germany and Japan –are in the first rank on the world’s nations. In addition India and Brazil have gained international heft. Yet the permanent member, especially US, Russia and China, do not wish to bring about any change in the Security Council that would truly bring it in line with contemporary realities. This is continuing to impact on the legitimacy of the Council. Recently the General Assembly has adopted a Resolution that would enable negotiations to take place on the basis of a text adopted by it. However, US, China and Russia have not given any views and those countries such as Pakistan, Italy and Argentina who do not stand a chance to become permanent members are also not cooperating with Security Council Reform. During his New York visit Modi is expected to discuss with G-4 (Germany, Japan and Brazil) leaders on how to push the Council reform agenda but it is unlikely that it would be realised anytime soon. The most urgent tasks before the UN include effective global responses to climate change and to bring about sustainable development. The developed world has broken all the pledges that it gave at the UN on climate change in the 1990s. It now wants developing countries like India to adopt systems that would retard their growth. These pressures have to be resisted even while sustainable development has to become part of India’s voluntary growth agenda. The UN for becoming effective and credible has to change and in line with the digital modern world.



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