The Roles of the UN in World Politics - Term Paper Example

The roles of UN in world politics Institute Introduction International organizations act as a common platform for participating members across the globe discuss issues affecting them for solutions. Examples of such organizations include: The World Trade Union, European Union and United Nations. The organizations aid the members in various ways. Amongst them is making laws that are internationally accepted to enhance peace and unity (Archer, 2001). They also take statistical information in to ensure standardization of the members. Supervising is another role played by the organization. There are negotiations and agreements, either bilateral or multilateral, which are done on behalf of the members by the same organizations. Recently some of the organizations have introduced the provision of financial and intellectual material. It is vital to note that the difference of an organization to another is the fact that each is based on certain interests and objectives. Hence members take into considerations their interests. Each organization should understand its limits and boundaries. This ensures that the organization does not interfere in matters that constitute a state , especially internal matters (Armstrong, 2004). Role of the UN Organization in Global Politics. The UN has been caught in a dilemma in the 21st century due to its inability to reconcile the realities, in structure, of the political power in a unipolar world with the requirements of the existing international rule of law. The UN charter presents an antagonism between power and law as a result of the privileges accorded to the great powers in 1945, hence creating an imbalance of superiority and inferiority especially in decision making. The basic weakness of international organizations is represented by irreconcilable normative contradiction which undermines the sovereign equality of members through the veto powers privileges. As a result of this privileges of the veto powers, the international organization has continued to face condemnation, in particular the Security Council. This is commonly referred to as dialectic of power and law (Archer, 2001). The United Nation and the power balance of 1945 II. The organization came into existence to ensure stability and peace of all members, a thing that the League of Nations failed in. Realistically the four sponsoring nations had not quite learnt from history as the focused on power politics, temptation. This is well illustrated by the Charter put in place, which is based on privileges. Language is another proof of power politics. This brings about the battle between idealism and realism. However as in this case idealism prevails. The approach of the UN is different from that of the League of Nations based on equality of members. The organization is power-centered which contradicts the main aim of the formation of international organizations after the end second world war. The supremacy of power over law erodes the notion of the international rule of law (Armstrong, 2004). The UN charter: unavoidable compromise or irreconcilable contradiction between power and law. The international rule of law is expressed through a system of collective security in the security council`s enforcement powers in chapter VII of the charter, which demonstrates the force of law in the UN system. The charter leads to a state of almost no separation of powers leading to a double standard policy for members as permanent members dwell on national interest. Though the permanent members are supposed to be enforcers of the rule of law, they have turned the situation to being international anarchy. The veto powers exercise power as opposed to non-permanent members who are tamed by law. Virtual immunity is enjoyed by the permanent members. The charter preamble evokes equal rights for all. Sovereign equality as for the organization has turned to being equality among the veto powers (Connelly, 2008). The antagonism between power and law: implications for world order for a bipolar and unipolar system IV. During the bipolarity that existed through the cold war up to 1989, the functions of the security council were paralyzed in a more or less way do to the rival between the superpowers namely the USA and Soviet union. However, the soviet`s unexpected collapse led to the fully exercise of collective security. The global unipolarity brought about the supremacy of the USA. After the paralysis caused by bipolarity, there has come into existence of another form of paralysis through structurally different termed as marginalization. Unipolar is mainly in terms of military power (Karns and Mingst, 2004). Current status of the United Nations in world politics The United Nations has taken a proactive role in modern and current internal politics of its member states. Since the Arab Spring, the United Nations has played a major role in internal politics of these nations with the aim of protecting internal peace and justice in these countries. One of the major and most important creations of the United Nations when it comes to justice is the international Criminal Court, which is mandated by the United Nations to prosecute war crime perpetrators from its member countries. The role of this court has been active in intervening in recent conflicts in countries such as Ivory Coast and Libya. The UN has been active in the Arab spring conflicts, which emanate from internal political strife. In trying to ensure that the lives of innocent civilians are protected during violent political problems in a country, the UN appoints special envoys who try to negotiate with parties that are warring. In Syria, the role of the UN in internal country politics has been evident. With the failure of President Assad’s regime to protect the innocent people, the UN has recognized the opposition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. This shows the more proactive role of the UN in current world politics (Kimball, 2011). The security council`s role in the framework of unipolar world order IV. According to the New World Order as declared by the President of the United State Bush senior after the end of the gulf war 1991, the Security Council is meant to be an executive organ of the USA, weakening it in a more serious way than that during the world war. This brings about the imbalance of power relations not only among all members but now among the five permanent members. This is intrinsically domination by one member. It was the idea of the founders of the organization to concentrate the powers to one institution, the Security Council. The main aim in this effort was ton enable the permanent members to enjoy the privileges. This decision disregarded equality and transnational equality. Power politics as predicament of the United Nations organization: realism versus idealism VI The new world order resembles colonization and imperial rule bringing a dilemma for the UN to either accept interiorizing (by one member state) or the state of irrelevance (just as the League Of Nations). The USA and the Great Britain are major influencers of the UN decisions being permanent members of the organizations. For instance, the then president of US had ordered the use of force on Iraq with his remarks in Whitehall palace London in November 3 2003. This brings the UN close to the irrelevance of the League Of Nations. Due to the UN charter is paralyzed in such a way that it is unable to challenge presidents George`s remarks, domination. It should be noted that the charter can not be amended without the consent of the other permanent members. According to the veto power provision Article 27 the UN can not act on matters entangled with the privileged permanent members. This article 27 is responsible for the constellation of unipolar allowing the US to exercise its veto power even before the other permanent members consider the eventual outcomes and make use of their veto powers. The UN inability to interfere with matters of the permanent members is the main reason as to why the cold war prevail (Pease, 2000). Future prospects of the United Nations and the need for a new paradigm of the international organization VII. There should be a combination of idealism and realism principles in the future. The UN would function well with a multipolar order. The idea of permanent members should be replaced with regional sense. Democratization should be amongst the reforms. There should be an elaborate separation of powers in place. In matters of decision making a `supermajority` of about three-quarters votes of the totals should be encouraged as in chapter VII. In regional sense means that the veto should be assigned to members of that region rather than individual states. This will enhance great fairness and balance. The new reforms proposals of the UN addresses on balanced geographical representation, which however does not touch on the privileges of the five permanent members. The reform proposal was aimed at democratizing the united nations organization. However, this is revolves around the interests of a few members as any decision made as earlier noted requires the consent of the veto powers according to the Article 108 of the Charter (Kennedy, 2006). The powers bestowed upon the permanent members makes the organization simply incapable of reforming itself. In instances of imbalance of power, the superpower (USA) tends to brand the other permanent members as lesser. With the reality in place, the existence of the UN tends to be marginalized. On the other hand the existence of the international rule of law is delegitimized. This establishes a new framework of the international organization incredibility to the rule of law. Therefore a new statutory framework needs to be put in place with clear separation of powers in legislative, executive and judicial functions of members. The restructuring of the organization`s systems will bring forth realistic vision as opposed to idealistic vision (Keck and Sikkink, 1998). Conclusion In conclusion, international organizations play a vital role in ensuring that there is always peace at the global level. The end of the Second World War resulted in more treaties and international organizations that have played a pivotal role in ensuring that the world remains a safe place. The UN has played an important role in global politics across all the continents. The UN has ensured that the politics in various countries are just and at the same time, they honor Human Rights. International organizations have been critical in spreading democracy in many parts of the world, References Archer, C., (2001). International organizations. 3rd ed. London: Routledge. Armstrong J.D. (2004). International Organisation in World Politics. Palgrave USA Connelly. J. M (2008)Fatal misconception: The struggle to control the world population. Havard University Press. Karns, M. P., & Mingst, K. A. (2004). International organizations: The politics and processes of global governance. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. Kennedy, P. (2006). The Parliament of Man. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Pease. K. S (2000). International organizations: Perspectives on governance in the twenty-first century. Prentice Hall. Staples. A. L. S & Sayward. A. L(2006). The birth of development: How the W.B, W.H.O & F.A.O changed the world, 1945-1965. Kent State University Press. Keck. E. M,& Sikkink. K.(1998). Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy networks in international politics. Cornell University Press. Kimball, S.(2011). UN takes proactive role in world politics after Arab Spring. Deutsche Welle Retrieved from http://www.dw.de/un-takes-proactive-role-in-world-politics-after-arab- spring/a-15067840 Read More