The UN: Translating War into Peace

The United Nations was created to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom” (http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html )

These objectives are all about social issues and preventing the need for concern about territorial invasion.  It was created when the world wanted to prevent any more terrible wars and genocides from ever happening again.  The general role of the UN is to solve social issues and to use diplomacy to end conflicts before they start.  They do more for nations in the way of institutions and not helping militarily. 

The UN only deploys its troops for PEACEKEEPING missions.  Even though they sometimes fail to prevent violence, they will usually not use force.  They hope to prevent conflict by being there.  I am not necessarily sure that this is always the best course, but it is not a realist move.  To not use force to secure territory is an international liberal policy. 

The UN is a non-state actor that influences on world politics.  This inherently means that it cannot be realist because realism does not subscribe to the idea that organizations can have an impact in the international community. 

I would say that the number one reason that the UN is a liberal organization in my mind is the Millennium Development Goals.  MDG’s are a set of 8 goals intended on helping impoverished nations improve more rapidly.  None of these goals includes anything about security.  They are all regarding the issues that are more important for a country to accomplish in order to be successful and prosperous.  The UN believes that improving health, education, environment, equality, and trade come before national security:  The UN is a liberal organization. 

 

If anyone is interested in seeing some amazing information about progress of the MDGs, here is a link to an interactive presentation with really fun graphs!

http://www.gapminder.org/downloads/presentations/human-development-trends-2005.html