Chapter 6 - States (Members) Make the UN.

 

Do you know anybody who is afraid that the UN is some form of world government that is set to "take over" at any time? I'm not here to be-little that fear but I'm fairly certain the UN could never "take over" anything. It can't pay its parking tickets to New York City. UN peace keeping and other operations always - only - function on shoe string budgets and only with the consent of the recognized government where ever they are... They are "invited in" and and be "asked to leave" at any time by the member state's government where they are located - and that's the whole point. The UN is not a collection of movements, nor schools of thoughts nor cultures, but is only an organization of member states. That very fact - what exactly the UN is - limits the ability of the organization to carry out even its most modest missions.

There are in essence, two UNs - the General Assembly and the Security Council - called "the UN in New York" and "the UN in the field" (who far out number their sponsors in New York and the world's capitols.

The UN in New York has a simple primary mission. Its the place where any member state can talk to any other member state in an informal neutral place. The lobbies, meetings and parties are of course where a great deal of the work is actually done. More than anything else, that simple "meeting place" activity is the highest contribution the UN could ever make. It makes possible all other attempts to regulate or organize states at the global or regional level. It provides a framework.

But the UN is an interesting case study if your task is to look at an international organization and answer those four specific questions I put forth for you to answer about an international organization for your Course Project Paper: 1) What was the original mission of the organization? 2) How has its mission changed? 3) Does it fulfill its mission? 4) How can the organization be improved?

For your paper - don't use the entire UN - if you want to use the UN at all - and there are many other international organizations you can choose from - but if you must write about the UN, pick a part of it - a program or specific activity in an specific country or region. You can pick any part - any program, or the General Assembly or Security Council or any sub committee of either body. And yes what you should pick is technically called an intergovernmental organization.. Don't pick Green Peace or the Red Cross, pick something that involves government to government activity.

But for the sake of this week's lecture - let's ask these questions of the UN, as a whole, as it is today. This gives me a platform to ramble on about the UN and you some insight, I hope, into the four questions.

First: Mission. Your book calls it "scope" and "purpose" anyway you say it - what is the reason the organization exists. Its proclaimed purpose. The UN has a charter that all members sign and it is binding, for whatever that's worth. Many authors have written far too many books on the mission (and hope) of the UN.

For your paper - you should be able to express the original mission scope, purpose and intent - in your own words - don't heavily quote speeches or technical documents - just say it - in 1 - 3 pages.

For right now, looking at the UN, we can see - at the end of World War two it had a clear mission of collective security and emerging development and humanitarian missions. The IMF/IBRD (World Bank) system is just one attempt to regulate and normalize global attempts to modernize (or is it industrialize? or is it westernize?...) the poor or less developed nations of the world

In fact, it is the success of the UN over the last nearly 75 years that has allowed the UN to grow to what it is and where it does its mission.

There were 52 countries in the world at the end of World War two, today there are nearly 200. That change alone has had a great impact on what the world has become and what the UN can (and cannot) do.

Any time it seems the mission goes well there is clamor for more success.. expectations always go up. It called Wildalfsky's Curve, essentially: peoples' expectations of government always go up.

Click here for a short video on expectations and gratitude.

Second: How has the mission changed? The UN has not changed its mission as much as it has "grown" and expanded its mission. UNICEF and other UN programs, feed children bring the clothes. books, clean water, etc.

And of course there's peacekeeping. Some thirty current missions going around the world right now. Some member states pay their dues by contributing troops to UN deployments (e.g.: Pakistan and India) Nice gig, being deployed by your country for the UN. I'm being sarcastic, you know right?

This whole thing is called "mission creep." But maybe its just Wildalfsky's curve. For a great example of mission creep see how NATO's mission has changed with the end of the cold war but the continued existence of NATO...

In fact the US does not allow its troops to wear the powder blue helmets (or berets) nor insignia of the UN when deployed (they was an exception made in Macedonia in the nineties). The US is the only country that will not allow its soldiers to be put under the command of foreign generals...or so we are told.

The mission of the UN has changed as the world has changed. Along with those changes, the UN tries to keep pace with the technological, demographic and economic changes on the globe.

But the argument could be made that all global and regional international relations has been effected by the existence of the UN for over fifty years and it is a complex force that is not diminishing over time, or is it?

So for questions two, in one to three pages, tell the story of the changes in the international organization since it began.

Third, does it fulfill its mission? this is where you get to make your own judgment on the value of the international organization as a whole, as an institution, as something that consumes limited money and resources and should be of value to people some how. You get to decide how to judge whether the organization is fulfilling its mission.

My opinion of the UN is, I'm sure you are not surprised, over all positive. yes I consider myself a realist not an idealist but i still see tremendous value in the existence of the UN. It is so limited in its ability to really touch the lives of people directly but it is a priceless part of the human condition whose very existence allows other more detailed cooperation among nations to take place.

Again you should write about one to three pages for part three.

Fourth, how can the organization be improved? In this section you should make predictions - not far out psychic predictions but honest accurate predictions of one year form now, three years from now, five years from now... You should be as specific as possible in pointing out what can (and cannot) be improved or "fixed" in the organization. Be bold.

For me, here in our brief little application of these four questions to the UN, I would have to say the UN's biggest problem is lack of funding. If we could double the amount of money the organization gets on a yearly basis we would generate so much more opportunity for peace and development and provide the groundwork for peaceful and equitable development and economic growth.

The UN is by no means the sole place for international arbitration of developments human costs but it is an integral part of the picture. the strengthening of global war crimes efforts needs to be expanded and enforced. More countries need to donate more troops equipment and technology to allow greater coordination with national armed forces and police and international policing agencies. Again, its a matter of money and cooperation. the two things the Un needs and the same two things if almost always lacks.

Click here for a video on the UN as Theater.