Conflicted UN struggles in

global peace efforts

Why hasn't the United Nations done more to end the violence in Gaza? Or, for that matter, the
conflicts in Syria, Iraq, the Central African e!"#lic, So"th S"dan, $i#ya, Af%hanistan or U&raine?
'y Nic& 'ryant()* +"ly ,*-.
These are questions that UN officials find themselves
fielding not just with mounting frequency but rising passion and frustration. For it is
hard to recall a time when the world confronted so many seemingly intractable crises,
and when the body designed to resolve and mediate them looed so thoroughly
incapable of doing so.
!"hy the UN Can#t $olve the "orld#s %roblems! ran an acc"satory headline over the
weeend in the New &or Times, a newspaper that#s something of a parish pump for
UN diplomats.
+"st hot air?
Certainly, there is no shortage of diplomatic effort. 'n February, the UN $ecurity
Council evidently had its busiest month since its creation in ()*+, mainly because of a
succession of meetings on the anne,ation of Crimea.
For the past two $undays, Council members have convened at midnight around their
iconic horseshoe table. -t consultations on the .iddle /ast last wee, ambassadors
from more than *0 nations spoe in the chamber, in addition to the $ecurity Council#s
(1 members, in a meeting that too up an entire day. -ugust, which is usually a slow
month at the UN, is e,pected to be unusually hectic.
2eci
sion3maing at the UN#s highest level has been hamstrung by discord between major
world powers
4ut to what end5 2emands for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, which is
what the $ecurity Council unanimously called for in the early hours of .onday
morning, have gone unheeded by both 6amas and 'srael.
Nor has the UN $ecretary 7eneral 4an 8i3moon#s shuttle and speed3dial diplomacy so
far yielded tangible results. The self3effacing $outh 8orean, now in the seventh year of
his posting, often comes across as the ineffectual head of an ineffectual organisation.
6is almost daily statements on 7a9a run the ris of becoming the diplomatic
equivalent of .u9a 3 bacground noise that people are vaguely aware of, but do not
listen to intently.
/eadloc& and dysf"nction
For all that, the main reason why the United Nations seems so unproductive is
because its member states are so unco3operative. The UN is the sum of its parts, and
when those parts wor against each other the result inevitably is deadloc and
dysfunction.
'ts :)3floor headquarters on the bans of the /ast ;iver in New &or can seem lie a
modern3day Tower of 4abel. 4ut again that is primarily the fault of the nations rather
than the United Nations. ;ichard 6olbrooe, a former U$ ambassador at the UN,
perhaps put it best. !4laming the United Nations when things go wrong is lie blaming
.adison $quare 7arden when the 8nics play badly.!
't is hardly as if the UN is doing nothing. 'n the present 7a9a conflict, the UN is
sheltering more than (<0,000 people in its schools. -t least five UN employees have
been illed while woring in 7a9a.
't is also important to distinguish between UN agencies lie =C6- >=rganisation for
the Coordination of 6umanitarian -ffairs?, which deliver aid and ameliorate suffering,
and UN bodies lie the $ecurity Council that regularly stymie those efforts through
diplomatic divisiveness.
;elat
ions between the U$ and ;ussia, who both have security council vetoes, have
seriously deteriorated
=C6- has wanted for months to deliver aid over the borders of $yria without the
permission of the -ssad regime, believing it could boost aid to some @ million people.
4ut it too months of tortuous negotiations to secure a $ecurity Council resolution
because of ;ussian concerns about the violation of $yrian sovereignty. ;ussian
obstructionism is a recurring problem.
=ften the international press corps stationed outside of the $ecurity Council spends
more time covering inaction rather than action.
Stymied #y veto
The institutional deficiencies of the UN unquestionably e,acerbate its dysfunction.
6anding a veto to the five permanent members of the $ecurity Council 3 the United
$tates, ;ussia, France, 4ritain and China 3 was obviously a recipe for gridloc.
4ut, alas, it was the price that had to be paid to secure the involvement of the major
post3war powers, and to give the UN a chance of succeeding where the Aeague of
Nations failed.
The
UN has so far failed to secure anything more than a few hours of quiet in 7a9a
The United $tates has used its veto (* times since the Cold "ar ended, while ;ussia
has wielded it eleven times. 4oth countries use their vetoes to protect alliesB 'srael in
the case of -merica, and $yria more recently in the case of ;ussia.
.any draft resolutions do not even mae it to a vote, because of the threat of veto.
Chill ret"rns
'n recent months, a Cold "ar chill has returned to the $ecurity Council chamber,
especially since ;ussia#s anne,ation of Crimea. Filled with caustic invective and
prefabricated soundbites, it has often become a place to air grievances and trade
accusations rather than to engage in constructive diplomacy.
The shooting down of .alaysia -irlines flight .6(C has only worsened the mood. "ith
so many accusing fingers jabbed at the ;ussians, the chamber has felt more lie a
courtroom.
That is not to say the body has been completely ineffectual. 't has played a crucial role
in helping to rid $yria of chemical weapons, following the passage of a resolution last
$eptember demanding their dismantlement. 't also agreed to send a blue3helmeted
peaceeeping force to the Central -frican ;epublic, though they have not yet arrived
there.
The
downing of a .alaysian airliner over Uraine has been another serious international
incident
4esides, there are other forces at play that go some way to e,plaining this period of
global disorder.
-merica, wounded by the long wars in -fghanistan and 'raq, is understandably
reluctant to play the role of global policeman and to project its military power. 4ut the
corollary has been a diminution of the =bama administration#s diplomatic clout,
whether in Tel -viv, Cairo, 8abul or 4aghdad.
$ei9ing on this moment of -merican weaness, Dladimir %utin has sought to e,tend
;ussia#s influence, even if it has meant flouting international law and norms, as has
been the case with the anne,ation of Crimea. The new world order supposedly
ushered in by the end of the Cold "ar has given way to a new world disorder.
$o the UN is something of a bipolar organisation, at once active and inactive. 4ut the
main blame lies with the member states themselvesB nations that are far from being
united.
Posted by Thavam