United Nation The Peacekeepers

United Nations

The Peacekeepers

History

i) Background:-

In the century prior to the UN's creation, several international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross were formed to ensure protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and strife.
In 1914, a political assassination in Sarajevo set off a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I. As more and more young men were sent down into the trenches, influential voices in Britain and the United States began calling for the establishment of a permanent international body to maintain peace in the postwar world. President Woodrow Wilson became a vocal advocate of this concept, and in 1918, he included a sketch of the international body in his Fourteen Points to end the war.
In November 1918, the Central Powers agreed to an armistice to halt the killing in World War I. Two months later, the Allies met to hammer out formal peace terms at the Paris Peace Conference. The League of Nations was approved, and in the summer of 1919 Wilson presented the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations to the US Senate which refused to consent to the ratification.
On 10 January 1920, the League of Nations formally came into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations, ratified by 42 nations in 1919, took effect. The League Council acted as a type of executive body directing the Assembly's business. It began with four permanent members Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan. Although the United States never joined the League, the country did support its economic and social missions through the work of private philanthropies and by sending representatives to committees.
After some successes and some failures during the 1920s, the League proved ineffective in the 1930s. It failed to act against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria as in February 1933. Forty nations voted for Japan to withdraw from Manchuria but Japan voted against it and walked out of the League instead of withdrawing from Manchuria.
It also failed against the Second Italo Ethiopian War, despite trying to talk to Benito Mussolini, but he used the time to send an army to Africa. The League had a plan for Mussolini to just take a part of Ethiopia, but he ignored the League and invaded Ethiopia. The League tried putting sanctions on Italy, but Italy had already conquered Ethiopia and the League had failed. After Italy conquered Ethiopia, Italy and other nations left the league. But all of them realized that it had failed and they began to re arm as fast as possible.
During 1938, Britain and France tried negotiating directly with Hitler but this failed in 1939 when Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. When war broke out in 1939, the League closed down , and its headquarters in Geneva remained empty throughout the war.

ii) Deceleration by the allies in the world War II

The first specific step towards the establishment of the United Nations was the Inter Allied conference that led to the Declaration of St James's Palace on 12 June 1941.By August 1941, American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had drafted the Atlantic Charter to define goals for the post war world.
At the subsequent meeting of the Inter Allied Council in London on 24 September 1941, the eight governments in exile of countries under Axis occupation, together with the Soviet Union and representatives of the Free French Forces, unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth by Britain and United States.
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met at the White House in December 1941 for the Arcadia Conference. Roosevelt coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries. He suggested it as an alternative to "Associated Powers", which the U.S. used in World War I.
Roosevelt's idea of the "Four Powers", referring to the four major Allied countries, the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China, emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. On New Year's Day 1942, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, Maxim Litvinov, of the USSR, and T. V. Soong, of China, signed the "Declaration by United Nations", and the next day the representatives of twenty two other nations added their signatures. During the war, "the United Nations" became the official term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis powers.

iii) Founding

The new international organization was formulated and negotiated among the delegations from the Allied Big Four at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference from 21 September to 7 October 1944. Representatives from the United States and the United Kingdom met first with those from the Soviet Union and, in the following week, with representatives from the Republic of China.
By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed the Declaration by United Nations. After months of planning, the UN Conference on International Organization opened in San Francisco, 25 April 1945, attended by 50 governments and a number of non governmental organizations The Big Four sponsoring countries invited other nations to take part and the heads of the delegations of the four chaired the plenary meetings.
Winston Churchill urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major Power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. The drafting of the Charter of the United Nations was completed over the following two months; it was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council the US, the UK, France, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China and by a majority of the other 46 signatories.
The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council took place in London beginning in January 1946. Debates began at once, covering topical issues such as the presence of Russian troops in Iranian Azerbaijan, British forces in Greece and within days the first veto was cast.
The General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, construction began on 14 September 1948 and the facility was completed on 9 October 1952. Its site like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi is designated as international territory. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary General.

iv) Cold War Era

UN's primary mandate Peacekeeping the division between the US and USSR often paralyzed the organization, generally allowing it to intervene only in conflicts distant from the Cold War. Two notable exceptions were a Security Council resolution on 7 July 1950 authorizing a US led coalition to repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea, passed in the absence of the USSR, and the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953.
On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly approved a resolution to partition Palestine, approving the creation of the state of Israel. Two years later, Ralph Bunche, a UN official, negotiated an armistice to the resulting conflict. On 7 November 1956, the first UN peacekeeping force was established to end the Suez Crisis; however, the UN was unable to intervene against the USSR's simultaneous invasion of Hungary following that country's revolution.
With the spread of decolonization in the 1960s, the organization's membership saw an influx of newly independent nations. In 1960 alone, 17 new states joined the UN, 16 of them from Africa. On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, but with the support of many Third World nations, the mainland, communist People's Republic of China was given the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the Republic of China that occupied Taiwan; the vote was widely seen as a sign of waning US influence in the organization. Third World nations organized into the Group of 77 coalition under the leadership of Algeria, which briefly became a dominant power at the UN. On 10 November 1975, a bloc comprising the USSR and Third World nations passed a resolution, over the strenuous US and Israeli opposition, declaring Zionism to be racism; the resolution was repealed on 16 December 1991, shortly after the end of the Cold War.
The UN also looked on the conflicts in Kashmir, Middle East, Vietnam and that the peacekeeping made an economic budget.

v) Post Cold War Era

After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in five years than it had in the previous four decades. Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased more than tenfold. The UN negotiated an end to the Salvadoran Civil War, launched a successful peacekeeping mission in Namibia, and oversaw democratic elections in post apartheid South Africa and post Khmer Rouge Cambodia. In 1991, the UN authorized a US led coalition that repulsed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Brian Urquhart, Under Secretary General from 1971 to 1985, later described the hopes raised by these successes as a "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed.
Beginning in the last decades of the Cold War, American and European critics of the UN condemned the organization for perceived mismanagement and corruption. In 1984, US President Ronald Reagan, withdrew his nation's funding from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) over allegations of mismanagement, followed by the UK and Singapore.
Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in the early 1990s the UN faced several simultaneous, serious crises within nations such as Somalia, Haiti, Mozambique, and the former Yugoslavia. The UN mission in Somalia was widely viewed as a failure after the US withdrawal following casualties in the Battle of Mogadishu. The UN mission to Bosnia faced "worldwide ridicule" for its indecisive and confused mission in the face of ethnic cleansing. In 1994, the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda failed to intervene in the Rwandan genocide amid indecision in the Security Council.
The Millennium Summit was held in 2000 to discuss the UN's role in the 21st century. The three day meeting was the largest gathering of world leaders in history and culminated in the adoption by all member states of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a commitment to achieve international development in areas such as poverty reduction, gender equality, and public health. Progress towards these goals, which were to be met by 2015, was ultimately uneven. The 2005 World Summit reaffirmed the UN's focus on promoting development, peacekeeping, human rights, and global security. The Sustainable Development Goals were launched in 2015 to succeed the Millennium Development Goals.
In addition to addressing global challenges, the UN has sought to improve its accountability and democratic legitimacy by engaging more with civil society and fostering a global constituency. In an effort to enhance transparency, in 2016 the organization held its first public debate between candidates for Secretary General. On 1 January 2017, Portuguese diplomat António Guterres , who previously served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, became the ninth Secretary General. Guterres has highlighted several key goals for his administration, including an emphasis on diplomacy for preventing conflicts, more effective peacekeeping efforts, and streamlining the organization to be more responsive and versatile to global needs.

vi) General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly of the UN. Composed of all UN member states, the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions, but emergency sessions can also be called. The assembly is led by a president, elected from among the member states on a rotating regional basis, and 21 vice presidents. The first session convened 10 January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nation.
When the General Assembly decides on important questions such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, a two thirds majority of those present and voting is required. All other questions are decided by a majority vote. Each member country has one vote. Apart from the approval of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security that are under consideration by the Security Council.
Draft resolutions can be forwarded to the General Assembly by its six main committees:

• First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)
•Second Committee (Economic and Financial)
•Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural)
•Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)
•Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)
•Sixth Committee (Legal)

As well as by the following two committees:

•General Committee a supervisory committee consisting of the assembly's president, vice president, and committee heads.
• Credentials Committee responsible for determining the credentials of each member nation's UN representatives.

vii) Security Council

The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among countries. While other organs of the UN can only make "recommendations" to member states, the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member states have agreed to carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25. The decisions of the council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The Security Council is made up of fifteen member states, consisting of five permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and ten non permanent members elected for two year terms by the General Assembly (with end of term date) Belgium (term ends 2020), Dominican Republic ( Estonia ( Germany ( Indonesia ( Niger ( Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ( South Africa ( Tunisia (2021), and Vietnam ( The five permanent members hold veto power over UN resolutions, allowing a permanent member to block adoption of a resolution, though not debate. The ten temporary seats are held for two year terms, with five member states per year voted in by the General Assembly on a regional basis. The presidency of the Security Council rotates alphabetically each month.

viii) UN Secretariat

The UN Secretariat is headed by the secretary general, assisted by the deputy secretary general and a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by UN bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies.
The secretary general acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the UN. The position is defined in the UN Charter as the organization's "chief administrative officer". Article 99 of the charter states that the secretary general can bring to the Security Council's attention "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security", a phrase that Secretaries General since Trygve Lie have interpreted as giving the position broad scope for action on the world stage. The office has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN organization and a diplomat and mediator addressing disputes between member states and finding consensus to global issues.
The secretary general is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power. There are no specific criteria for the post, but over the years it has become accepted that the post shall be held for one or two terms of five years. The current Secretary General is António Guterres, who replaced Ban Ki moon in 2017.

ix) International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, is the primary judicial organ of the UN. Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The ICJ is composed of 15 judges who serve 9 year terms and are appointed by the General Assembly; every sitting judge must be from a different nation.
It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, sharing the building with the Hague Academy of International Law, a private center for the study of international law. The ICJ's primary purpose is to adjudicate disputes among states. The court has heard cases related to war crimes, illegal state interference, ethnic cleansing, and other issues. The ICJ can also be called upon by other UN organs to provide advisory opinions. It is the only organ that is not located in New York.

x) Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social co operation and development. ECOSOC has 54 members, who are elected by the General Assembly for a three year term. The president is elected for a one year term and chosen amongst the small or middle powers represented on ECOSOC. The council has one annual meeting in July, held in either New York or Geneva. Viewed as separate from the specialized bodies it co ordinates, ECOSOC's functions include information gathering, advising member nations, and making recommendations. Owing to its broad mandate of coordinating many agencies, ECOSOC has at times been criticized as unfocused or irrelevant.
ECOSOC's subsidiary bodies include the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which advises UN agencies on issues relating to indigenous peoples; the United Nations Forum on Forests, which coordinates and promotes sustainable forest management; the United Nations Statistical Commission, which co ordinates information gathering efforts between agencies; and the Commission on Sustainable Development, which co ordinates efforts between UN agencies and NGOs working towards sustainable development. ECOSOC may also grant consultative status to non governmental organizations; by 2004, more than 2,200 organizations had received this status.

xi) Specialized Agencies

The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ of the United Nations can establish various specialized agencies to fulfil its duties. The specialized agencies are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the coordinating machinery of the Economic and Social Council. Each was integrated into the UN System by way of an agreement with the UN under UN Charter article 57. There are fifteen specialized agencies because the World Bank Group, which is now treated as one organization, is composed, in part, of three specialized agencies the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which, if counted separately, make seventeen specialized agencies.

xii) Model United Nations

The United Nations has inspired the extracurricular activity Model United Nations (MUN). MUN is a simulation of United Nations activity based on the UN agenda and following UN procedure. MUN is usually attended by high school and university students who organize conferences to simulate the various UN committees to discuss important issues of the day. Today, Model United Nations educates tens of thousands on United Nations activity around the world. Model United Nations has many famous and notable alumni, such as former Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki moon.

xiii) Veto Power

The United Nations Security Council "Veto power" refers to the power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council ( France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) to veto any "substantive" resolution. However, a permanent member's abstention or absence does not prevent a draft resolution from being adopted. This veto power does not apply to "procedural" votes, as determined by the permanent members themselves. A permanent member can also block the selection of a Secretary General, although a formal veto is unnecessary since the vote is taken behind closed doors.
The veto power is controversial. Supporters regard it as a promoter of international stability, a check against military interventions, and a critical safeguard against US domination. Critics say that the veto is the most undemocratic element of the UN, as well as the main cause of inaction on war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it effectively prevents UN action against the permanent members and their allies.
The veto power originates in Article 27 of the United Nations Charter , which

1.Each member of the Security Council shall have a vote.
2.Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members.
3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.

A negative vote from any of the permanent members will block the adoption of a draft resolution. However, a permanent member that abstains or is absent from the vote will not block a resolution from being passed. Although the "power of veto" is not mentioned by name in the UN Charter, Article 27 requires concurring votes from the permanent members. For this reason, the "power of veto" is also referred to as the principle of " great power unanimity" and the veto itself is sometimes referred to as the "great power veto".

xiv) Why India is not a Veto Country??

United Nation Security Council [UNSC] in current form is not representative of the developing world and global needs with primacy of policy being a political tool in hands of P5.
In the year 1992 India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan (referred as G4) had put up their claims and logic for demanding inclusion as permanent members. India has been part of UN since inception, has the world's second largest population and is the world's largest democracy suited to represent South Asia, having contributed maximum peacekeepers to UN so far, has a strong case.
I am questioning the United Nations that why India is not a Veto Country? After World War II when UN foundations were laid, India being controlled under British said that when they gain independence they will join the United Nation. What not India has done for the United Nations?? India supplied Polio Vaccines; every year India gives a hefty amount to UN so that the UN could protect the world. India also provided COVID 19 vaccines to every employee in the UN. India gave around 400,000 vaccines to the UN. Did USA, UK, France, Russia gave vaccines to the employee of UN? These countries are having greatest economy and enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone in the country but still did they provide vaccine to UN? India who had a shortage of vaccines provided vaccines and still UN is not making India a Veto Country.
Now what are the criteria of being a Veto Country:

• The country must give way the nuclear weapons,
• But USA, France, UK, China and Russia all these countries are "Nuclear" country. So if India wants to be a veto country , it must sacrifice its nuclear weapons which is not possible because India is surrounded by its enemies which are Pakistan and China.

xv) G4-Countries

P5→ Permanent 5 Countries in the United Nations G4→ Group of Four.
The G4 Countries includes India, Japan, Brazil and Germany.
G4's primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council. Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non permanent members of the council since the UN's establishment.
The UN currently has five permanent members with veto power in the Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States comprising the victors of World War II. The G4 nations are regularly elected to two year terms on the Security Council as non permanent members by their respective regional groups: in the 24 year period from 1987 to 2010, Brazil and Japan were elected for five terms each, Germany for four terms (one term as West Germany and three terms as unified Germany) and India for four terms. Cumulatively, the G4 has spent 64 years on the Security Council since the UN's inception, with each country serving at least a decade.
There has been discontent among the present permanent members regarding the inclusion of controversial nations or countries not supported by them. For instance, Japan's bid is heavily opposed by China, North Korea, Russia and South Korea who think that Japan still needs to make additional atonement for war crimes committed during World War II.
India is currently not opposed by any P5 nation. In Europe, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Spain, oppose a seat for Germany. In Africa, Namibia also opposes Germany's bid. In Latin America, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela oppose a seat for Brazil. In Asia, Pakistan opposes India’s bid.