Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application.
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This year, the United Nations (UN) is celebrating its 75th
year. Born out of war, the UN has sought to curtail plagues of a past
characterized by two world wars. supported the thought of liberal
institutionalism where multilateral institutions are to facilitate inter-state
cooperation, the UN intended to bring the most military powers along side the
main task of maintaining international peace and security (Weiss 2018: 174,
Hanhimaki 2015: 18). This has, however, been fraught with difficulties that
this essay will address along side the challenges and opportunities with
different peace and security initiatives, in an effort to guage the UN’s
success in its main task. it'll specifically specialise in peace operations,
nuclear disarmament and humanitarian intervention, a number of the most areas
through which the UN is maintaining international peace and security (UN
2020a). together main actor in global governance, Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. I conclude that the important
success of the UN has been in its role as a normative power, guiding the
worldwide understanding of acceptable behavior.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) is that the organ with the
first responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.
Outlining its structure and performance is an important initiative for determining
its success. It consists of 15 members, 5 of which are permanent and have veto
power (the P5), namely the us , the uk , Russia, China and France. These were
considered the most military powers when the UN was founded and their veto
right would prevent them from getting to war against one another , while
creating a necessary balance when taking decisions on security issues that
might be collectively enforced (Goodrich 1965: 430). Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. This illustrates how the
constellation itself was supported peace and security considerations, and there
has actually never been an immediate physical war between the P5 since the UN’s
beginning. Despite a period of inaction during the conflict , many UNSC
resolutions have also been passed to support peace processes, solve disputes,
answer illegitimate uses of force and enforce sanctions in situations where
peace and security has been threatened. This involvement ranges from Bosnia in
1993 to Afghanistan in 2001 to its Anti-Piracy resolution in 2008 (Mingst and
Karns 2011: 108). UNSC resolutions are central for tackling conflict situations
and have also demonstrated that extensive joint action are often taken to reply
to crisis, like within the case of Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in 1990 where it
condemned its action and authorized states to “use all necessary means” to
prevent the occupation (Mingst and Karns 2011: 105). Such examples would
challenge the realist assumption that there's an inherent collective action
problem in diplomacy and therefore the system of anarchy. Nevertheless, the
UNSC has attracted vast criticism for upholding procedures that impede robust
action in important situations where law of nations has been violated but the
P5 disagree, like in Syria (Nadin 2017), also as for keeping an outdated
permanent membership and for being undemocratic (Weiss & Kuele 2014).
within the mentioned example of Iraq 1990, the agreed resolution authorized a
US-led operation , but UN oversight was weak and therefore the autonomy folks
action also because the lack of inclusion of supportive states outside of the
Council within the decision-making process is one example that points to the
undemocratic structure of the Council also because the continued importance of
powerful states during interventions, instead of the UN itself (Ebegbulem 2011:
25). Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. Furthermore, Security Council vetoes haven't always managed to prevent
nations from proceeding with their endeavors, which was the case with the US’
invasion of Iraq, 2003 (Morris & Wheeler 2007: 221). This shows that the
individual interests of some states make them deviate from institutional
constraints, pointing to flaws within the theory of liberal institutionalism
that laid the idea for the UN. Such examples spark doubt about the credibility
of the UN and UNSC and disrupt the balance that the composition of UNSC is to
uphold, which is one important obstacle to its success in maintaining peace and
security.
Beyond internal tensions, the UN has a lively presence
within the world through peace operations, which has become central for the
UNSC and its approach to maintaining peace. The mandates range from protecting
civilians to supporting state-building efforts, an inventory that has become
more extensive in its plan to improve the strategy towards sustainable peace.
there's no mention of peace operations within the UN Charter, and therefore the
concept of peacekeeping has adapted in line with shifting nature of war and
understanding of security, leading up to today’s multidimensional peace
operations (Williams & Bellamy 2013: 415). Traditionally, the presence of
UN forces was to be approved by all parties within the host country, they were
to be impartial, lightly armed, with the most goal to take care of a truce. The
peace has indeed been kept between states like Israel-Syria or Iraq-Kuwait,
indicating the success of UN deployment for preventing interstate conflict
(Mingst and Karns 2011: 130). With the rise of intrastate wars within the 1990s
however, conflicts had become more complex, requiring a more complex response.
Peacekeepers were deployed in situations where there was no peace to stay , and
that they encountered atrocities that put both them and civilians in peril ,
demanding greater military response (Bellamy & Hunt 2015: 1277, Doyle &
Sambanis 2008: 2). Their mandate therefore expanded and began bordering on
enforcement, as was the case of Bosnia within the 1990s. Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. One problem was the
discrepancy between the expectations of the operations and therefore the actual
capabilities in sort of manpower or resources, showing a political
unwillingness to rework the operations to more robust ones (Thakur 2006: 62,
Autesserre 2019). Bosnia was a transparent example of the failure which will
ensue when undertaking unplanned responses to a situation that doesn't match
the first mandate, because it might cause the lack to perform the envisioned
tasks entrusted upon peacekeepers as they're prevented by nation state
reluctance (Crossette 1999). This shows the importance of broad member state
support of missions in today’s complex conflict situations and therefore the
need for nations to be willing to adapt to challenges which may arise.
Underlying UN peace operations is that the ideal of a
liberal democratic peace, which has been an extra hindrance to success in some
contexts. Afghanistan may be a telling example, where democratization, rule of
law and economic restructuring was promoted (Saikal 2012: 219), showing a
disregard for each state’s right to “choose its political, economic, social and
cultural system” (UN Declaration 1965). The state-building efforts saw the fast
establishment of governance structures supported Western ideals. it had been a
rushed affair that eventually failed because the government was neither
representative nor accountable (Saikal 2012: 226). Postcolonialism offers a
legitimate critique of the ideational dominance of Western values and
understandings, and its failure to acknowledge imperialist tendencies within
the vision that liberal peace is universally applicable and desirable (Nair
2017). Imposing structures during a top-down fashion can have important
consequences in fragile situations where society is multidimensional. The
conception of peace shouldn't be equated with liberalism but rather promoted
during a balanced effort through combined considerations for basic democratic
principles with local understandings of governance. this is often called hybrid
peacebuilding by authors like Richmond (2009: 578). Only then will the UN
enable long-term success because it would empower the area people through an
inclusive bottom-up approach.
The active presence of the UN within the world through its
different missions has resolved disputes, inhibited escalation of conflict and
spurred peace in some situations, but the inherent problems that were
highlighted still attract criticism. The failure of the UN to foster long-term
peace in settings with complex conflict-dynamics shows a crucial limitation to
the claim to success (Sambanis 2008: 29). an alternate area during which its
role as a peace and security defender has been more successful, and in my view
most successful, is thru the spread important norms that have ranged from
expanding the safety agenda to upholding a nuclear taboo. A telling example is
that the role of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). As authors like
Scott Sagan argue, norms embedded within the NPT shape “states’ identities and
expectations and even powerful actors [become] constrained by the norms they
[have] created” (Sagan 1997: 76). Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. The NPT regime helped establish shared
understandings of what was considered prestigious, legitimate or delegitimate
and states thereby chose to disarm instead of be classified as rogue nations by
the international community (Sagan 1997: 80). it's also constrained both Russia
and therefore the US in their attempts to modernize their arsenals. Even in
cases where the norm has been contested, like when US recognized India as a
nuclear weapons state, it never seriously challenged the core assumptions of
the nuclear non-proliferation norm (Carranza 2019: 14). Critics would disagree
and argue that the accomplishments within the area of nuclear disarmament has
been weak, like peace (MacKenzie 2015: 489), but the UN’s efforts have
evidently hindered armament and possible escalation, pointing to a serious
success for maintaining peace and security within the world.
The naiveté that liberal institutionalism has been charged
with is confirmed by the problem to cooperate in areas that are so clearly
still a part of the realm of national interests (Weiss 2018: 178). Despite
this, history has shown that UN nations, and therefore the P5, are agreeing on
important resolutions and overcoming their differences. States have also acted
in line with the normative frameworks that the UN has promoted. Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. The UN are
often and will be criticized for its inability to act where needed or for its
inability to prevent action deemed damaging to peace and security, but it's a
capability to adapt and reinvent itself in line with emerging global challenges
that shouldn’t be undermined (MacKenzie 2015: 490). Such adaptability gives
constructivism right in its understanding that process affects interests, which
thereby transforms structure (Wendt 1992: 393). This understanding explains how
the UNCS has been ready to legitimize certain norms and practices, even once
they poke into the realm of national sovereignty (Williams & Bellamy 2013:
416). The UN is indeed the sum of its parts, composed of member states with
their individual interests, but state interaction during this institutional
context still shape states’ evolving interest, enabling about-face that
corresponds with its task of maintaining peace and security.
The active presence of the UN within the world through its
different missions has resolved disputes, inhibited escalation of conflict and
spurred peace in some situations, but the inherent problems that were
highlighted still attract criticism. Evaluate the role of UN to the concept of self -determination and its application. The failure of the UN to foster long-term
peace in settings with complex conflict-dynamics shows a crucial limitation to
the claim to success (Sambanis 2008: 29). an alternate area during which its
role as a peace and security defender has been more successful, and in my view
most successful, is thru the spread important norms that have ranged from
expanding the safety agenda to upholding a nuclear taboo. A telling example is
that the role of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). As authors like
Scott Sagan argue, norms embedded within the NPT shape “states’ identities and
expectations and even powerful actors [become] constrained by the norms they [have]
created” (Sagan 1997: 76). The NPT regime helped establish shared
understandings of what was considered prestigious, legitimate or delegitimate
and states thereby chose to disarm instead of be classified as rogue nations by
the international community