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The Double Standards of The United Nations in Conflict Resolution

Abdulrahman Nadir Sirtaj Khan

English Language Arts

Muneer Al Alami

December 1, 2023
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The Double Standards of The United Nations in Conflict Resolution

This paper examines the double standards employed by the United Nations (UN) in dealing with

conflicts and issues worldwide. Through an analysis of urgent humanitarian concerts, the influence of

nations, engagement with non-state actors, and the role of international law. These studies aim to shed

light on times in which the credibility of the UN is questioned and when its approaches to finding

resolution are inconsistent in an attempt to expose the UN’s double standards.

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Humanitarian Concerns in Conflict Resolution

The United Nations’ main principles are that of equality, justice and internal cooperation,

but it still receives public backlash on its handling of global conflicts, and rightfully so as the UN

response has always prioritized political considerations over delivering humanitarian needs to

those that require it, and this has shown with the recent Israeli genocide as they have ultimately

forgotten what the Gazans need most. and this is one of the many reasons why questions about

double standards are raised when it comes to conflict resolutions such examples come from The

Syrian Civil War, Despite the scale of humanitarian crises has not prioritized supporting those in

need need of food water and other basic needs and this has caused most of the population to fall

below the poverty line and resulted in the displacement of 13 million people as well as many

falling ill due to disease and many conflict-related injuries with one of the primary obstacles was

the deadlock in the UN Security Council and the conflict became a battleground for geopolitical

rivalries with Russia and China using their power to block resolutions critical of the Syrian

government.

Another example would be the Rohingya crisis which had highlighted the delayed and measure

reaction by powerful nations and the UN Security Council claimed a mismatch between the

severity of the crisis and the international response as the Muslim minority group in myanmar

was threatened with ethnic cleansing with around 960,000 of the Muslims fleeing to bangladesh

but even after the UN labeling the Rohingya as the most persecuted minority in the world their

reaction to such threats and violence they were still questioned for their delayed reaction.
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The Role of Powerful Nations

The role of powerful nations within the UN have shown their immense influence in certain

conflicts with a very recent recent example was the USA’s decision to veto the call for a ceasefire in gaza

in which many civilians are suffering from the intense shelling that deliberately is targeted towards them

in order to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians lands in the name of fighting “terrorists” and “Human

animals'' (Minister Yoav Gallant, 2023) that is a facade that the Israeli Zionist government is trying to

put on in order to complete their genocidal plans against innocents in gaza, and this Palestinians have

been dealing with such circumstances for decades but it has come to the media's attention about the range

of Israel's war crimes going as far as to document the “Hasbara” effort that is a program that employs

teenagers and adults to write propaganda and spread it on the internet with a particular channel detailing..

“ the Israeli government would use its ties with the USA as well as the hasbara effort to call and those that

resist the oppression and murder that the Israeli occupation has committed for 75 years straight” (GDF,

2023), another example would be the Iraqi invasion in which the United States where complicit in a

myriad of war crimes numbering in the hundreds the US used its position in the UN to stop any votes in

favor of the USA pulling of out Iraq as the US’s main claim is that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction

which was later found to be not true and these was deliberately done to pursue the United States’ own

agendas, justifying everything the United States has done for their own economic interests too as the

United States wanted control over the Iraqi oil reserves and wealth as well.

effectiveness of UN resolutions and sanctions in addressing conflicts.

Now when it comes to the effectiveness of has many enforcement challenges some with

humanitarian concerns and geopolitical considerations and example would be How China and

Russia are both permanent members of the UN security council with veto power, have ties to

North Korea even if they may agree in principle on some sanctions, their willingness to enforce
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them could be affected by geopolitical considerations taking in mind the stability of the region

with conflicting interests. And an example for the humanitarian concerns that might cause

problems when it comes to enforcement of policies is when sanctions that are aimed at North

Korea to curb their nuclear activities also have a humanitarian effect. It is thought that the

sanctions would affect the already very poverty-ridden citizens of North Korea causing them to

starve and suffer with a recent report saying that “About 40% of North Koreans are

malnourished because of food shortages”.(Kang-hyun, 2023).

International Law Enforcement

International laws play an important part in regulating the behavior of different states

which attempt to provide peaceful coexistence, cooperation and conflict resolution however the

enforcement of such international law differs and can lead to inconsistencies and issues. This is

an especially important issue to bring up now as some more powerful like the United States may

shield its allies from legal consequences which certainly affect the fairness of international law.

This brings us again to the war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people with no

sort of legal repercussion to those whose orders cause the deaths and execution of innocents, all

while the USA is protecting them, using their veto powers crush any kind of hope for a

humanitarian ceasefire for the citizens of Gaza. And with the aid of the United States more and

more innocent civilians have suffered.

the long-term consequences of perceived double standards in UN actions

Now as many know such injustice in a organization that is built on maintaining peace and

equality cannot go without consequences, such consequences could be that of erosion of trust

between different states as some states may and will feel as if they’ve been held up to a different
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standard than another state in terms of diplomatic engagements within the UN framework.

As well as diminishing the credibility of the UN and again this brings up how the United States

of America used its veto power to disallow a ceasefire deal causing mass protesting against this

resolution. And when it comes to addressing such crises in the Syrian crisis the UN has always

been criticized as their effectiveness in handling a situation has always been faulty due to

members focusing on differing states’ interests rather than focus on humanitarian crises and

humanitarian aid with a few critics mentioning that “The resolutions have rung hollow for Syrian

civilians. They have been ignored or undermined by the parties to the conflict, other UN member

states, and even by members of the UNSC itself.”(Marten Hartberg, et al., 2015).

Conclusion

In conclusion, yes I do believe that double standards in the UN are a complex and paining

reality, and the analysis of conflicts sheds light on this issue, the reaction to humanitarian crises

and the inconsistent resolutions that are being thrown out expose the interests of powerful states

that use their powers and only seek certain resolutions to fund their own interests.
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