United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was "deeply distressed" by an announcement that Israel will initiate a complete siege of the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas over the weekend.
And those superpowers wouldn’t have joined the UN if it didn’t have those limiters, which would have resulted in a neutered UN that way too.
I think people in general have unrealistic expectations of the UN. It’s not useless, I think it’s a good thing to have around, but they’re not going to come in and save the day when stuff like this happens.
Indeed, that is what had happened to the League of Nations and why the US never joined.
Also the UN is still an important platform where diplomatic relations are upheld even in dire situations. Even with Russia it is important to have some lines of discussion.
"UN peacekeeping missions operate in the most dangerous and difficult environments in the world, dealing with conflicts – or their aftermath – which others cannot or will not address. We can achieve what others can’t, but success is never guaranteed.
We have, built up an impressive record of peacekeeping achievements over more than 70 years of our existence, including winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since 1948, the UN has helped end conflicts and foster reconciliation by conducting successful peacekeeping operations in dozens of countries, including Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Namibia and Tajikistan.
UN peacekeeping has also made a real difference in other places with recently completed or on-going operations such as Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Haiti and Kosovo. By providing basic security guarantees and responding to crises, these UN operations have supported political transitions and helped buttress fragile new state institutions. They have helped countries to close the chapter of conflict and open a path to normal development, even if major peacebuilding challenges remain.
In other instances, however, UN peacekeeping – and the response by the international community as a whole – have been challenged and found wanting, for instance in Somalia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. These setbacks provided important lessons for the international community when deciding how and when to deploy and support UN peacekeeping as a tool to restore and maintain international peace and security"
This is only touching on the peacekeeping aspect of the UN. They do lot of other work such as humanitarian aid, human rights, international law, sustainable development, and focus on climate change.
The UN isn’t perfect however it’s hard to ignore that it does have a net positive on the world. We can always work to make it better but I think saying that it’s useless isn’t true.
You can look up more of what the UN does on their website or feel free to find other sources on what they’ve done since they came to be.
The UN is first and foremost just a forum for world leaders to communicate. The whole point is that everyone participates in it so it’s impossible for the institution itself to assume radical positions. It’s inherently a flawed system but it’s the best you can get right now with “superpowers” like the US, China and Russia.
It’s probably true that some of the countries that are members of the UN use that to spread misinformation and/or keeping the UN from doing a more effective job. However, to state that that’s the only thing the UN does is In my opinion is completely inaccurate. You’re welcome to look at my comments further up or go to the UN website yourself and see all the different areas that they make an impact in. Like I had said in another comment just because they aren’t perfect doesn’t mean they’re pointless. You’re welcome to come to your own conclusions, but I feel that the UN is a net positive in this world. I think it’s better to have the UN and actually work on improving it than to not have it at all.
This would be a good place to start if you’re curious about the mission statement of the UN. This website has a lot of good information about their areas of focus.
https://www.un.org/en/our-work
The work of the UN focuses on five major areas.
1.Maintain International Peace and Security.
2.Protect Human Rights.
3.Deliver Humanitarian Aid.
3.Support Sustainable Development and Climate Action.
3.Uphold International Law
They have a lot of information on their website about all of these areas. I would highly suggest going and looking at information on their peacekeeping and how they’ve helped in that area. They are certainly far from perfect but that doesn’t make them pointless. They do a lot of good work and are making a net positive impact.
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The UN was created by superpowers who didn’t want it having the power to encroach on their sovereignty. It’s neutered by design.
And those superpowers wouldn’t have joined the UN if it didn’t have those limiters, which would have resulted in a neutered UN that way too.
I think people in general have unrealistic expectations of the UN. It’s not useless, I think it’s a good thing to have around, but they’re not going to come in and save the day when stuff like this happens.
Indeed, that is what had happened to the League of Nations and why the US never joined.
Also the UN is still an important platform where diplomatic relations are upheld even in dire situations. Even with Russia it is important to have some lines of discussion.
But but but I was told by Christians to fear the rise of one world government!!!
"UN peacekeeping missions operate in the most dangerous and difficult environments in the world, dealing with conflicts – or their aftermath – which others cannot or will not address. We can achieve what others can’t, but success is never guaranteed.
We have, built up an impressive record of peacekeeping achievements over more than 70 years of our existence, including winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since 1948, the UN has helped end conflicts and foster reconciliation by conducting successful peacekeeping operations in dozens of countries, including Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Namibia and Tajikistan.
UN peacekeeping has also made a real difference in other places with recently completed or on-going operations such as Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Haiti and Kosovo. By providing basic security guarantees and responding to crises, these UN operations have supported political transitions and helped buttress fragile new state institutions. They have helped countries to close the chapter of conflict and open a path to normal development, even if major peacebuilding challenges remain.
In other instances, however, UN peacekeeping – and the response by the international community as a whole – have been challenged and found wanting, for instance in Somalia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. These setbacks provided important lessons for the international community when deciding how and when to deploy and support UN peacekeeping as a tool to restore and maintain international peace and security"
This is only touching on the peacekeeping aspect of the UN. They do lot of other work such as humanitarian aid, human rights, international law, sustainable development, and focus on climate change.
The UN isn’t perfect however it’s hard to ignore that it does have a net positive on the world. We can always work to make it better but I think saying that it’s useless isn’t true.
You can look up more of what the UN does on their website or feel free to find other sources on what they’ve done since they came to be.
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What a healthy way to have a conversation, I’m sure your a lovely person to be friends with
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Yes it’s to give a platform for genocidal dictatorships to voice their concerns.
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I don’t understand the point of the UN. They have no army. They can’t coordinate sanctions They can’t prevent or end wars
Does it even have a stated goal?
The UN is first and foremost just a forum for world leaders to communicate. The whole point is that everyone participates in it so it’s impossible for the institution itself to assume radical positions. It’s inherently a flawed system but it’s the best you can get right now with “superpowers” like the US, China and Russia.
Exactly. It’s to enable diplomacy instead of war.
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NO ERASE YOUR COMMENT. Make them look it up themselves
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The only thing it enables is further spread of lies.
It’s probably true that some of the countries that are members of the UN use that to spread misinformation and/or keeping the UN from doing a more effective job. However, to state that that’s the only thing the UN does is In my opinion is completely inaccurate. You’re welcome to look at my comments further up or go to the UN website yourself and see all the different areas that they make an impact in. Like I had said in another comment just because they aren’t perfect doesn’t mean they’re pointless. You’re welcome to come to your own conclusions, but I feel that the UN is a net positive in this world. I think it’s better to have the UN and actually work on improving it than to not have it at all.
This would be a good place to start if you’re curious about the mission statement of the UN. This website has a lot of good information about their areas of focus. https://www.un.org/en/our-work
The work of the UN focuses on five major areas. 1.Maintain International Peace and Security. 2.Protect Human Rights. 3.Deliver Humanitarian Aid. 3.Support Sustainable Development and Climate Action. 3.Uphold International Law
They have a lot of information on their website about all of these areas. I would highly suggest going and looking at information on their peacekeeping and how they’ve helped in that area. They are certainly far from perfect but that doesn’t make them pointless. They do a lot of good work and are making a net positive impact.