The United
Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World
War to prevent another World War from erupting. It’s core objective is to maintain
international peace and security by creating alliances among states. The
international organization has to an extent been successful and no Third World
War has occurred since its existence. But a question we can all ask ourselves
is, how much global power and influence does the UN actually have.
Arguably
within the organizations not all members have the same power over decisions.
Within in the UN Security Council only 5 out of the 15 members have permanent
veto power. In the UN a trend and the truth is the world powers have more of a
say then the small states. The U.S., Russia, China, France, and England are the
typical leaders within the international organization. There economic, military
and influential status allows them to take the for front in decisions. This may
not seem fair in certain circumstances but their power to influence brings
greater gains in the end.
The only
real power the UN can have is to call for economic sanctions on those states that do
not practice the beliefs of the UN and disturb the peace. But even with this
situation it is all about influence. And those individual states with power
have the most influence. The UN is a platform for the powerful global powers to
influence and control the smaller states. If a state can appeal both the
members and the news media with an issue then maybe the global population can
see a change caused by the UN.
For example
earlier this year actress Emma Watson spoke in front of the UN General Assembly
to address the issue of violence against women and gender equality. Her message
was heard globally. People all around the world showed support for the issue
with the hash tag HeforShe. It sparked the conversation that this is not only
women’s problem but also men’s. Even
though Emma Watson is not an individual state she is a prime example that those
who have power and influence will gain attention and potentially cause change.
The nations with the status will influence the world to follow their steps in
decision-making.
So I
personally can not measure the power of the UN. But instead have concluded that
those with power can use the UN to influence other states. The U.S. is just one
of the states who is a member of the UN, but it holds more power within the
international organization then many of the smaller countries. This was not
just an easy given power. But because of the history and richness in economy it
has gained the power to influence over the members. The United Nations gives
nations an institution to backup their security, peace and level of power.
If it serves only as an instrument of strong states, then why do they use it? Why not simply do things unilaterally?
ReplyDeleteI would say that the strong states like to give the illusion that everyone has a voice on a global stage. It gives the view to the world that these strong states are listening equally to Russia and Grenada, even if they're not. I think the power that the UN has is mostly superficial at this point. The countries come together and talk once in a while, but how much does the UN really do to influence the world?
DeleteI agree with this idea that most of the UN's power is superficial. Now that being said, this is still a form of power. While I don't believe the UN has control over every country in the world and has the ability to stop all conflicts from ensuing, I do believe that the idea of the UN is enough to keep states in order and prevent the world from becoming utter chaos. It is a source to share world ideas, and has been effective in bringing world issues to light. An example would be the UN environmental report that was recently released. While this isn't stopping global conflict, it is working to fix potential problems of the future.
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