United Nations: Aged organization facing new problems

The 20th century has proven to be the most challenging in terms of international relations, conflict management and diplomacy. The last century has seen two world wars, one Cold War, which spawned numerous proxy wars, and carrying over into the new Millennium we are dealing with terrorism. The League of Nations, a predecessor to the United Nations has proven to be a failure of Wilsonian ideals and is haunting the leaders of the United Nations today. There are numerous principal arguments as to why the UN is proving to be ineffective but several stand out in relation to crises that the UN is dealing with today. A peacekeeping mission with little or no hardware to protect the peacekeepers is an idealistic tradition that is not viable in today's conflict resolution environment. This practice endangers the lives of UN personnel and the willingness of nations to contribute men and other logistical support to future missions. The conflicts of Kosovo in 1999, Iraq in 2003 and Rwanda in 1994 are thorns at the side of the United Nations and its authority. These crises and conflicts have unfortunately proven to be disastrous with respect to the prestige of the United Nations and, far more importantly, the loss of human life suffered has been enormous. Today's Nation-States have encouraged the concept of alliances which may be international or inter-organizational but in all they weaken the United Nations. Many nations put the interest of the organization or the alliance they belong to before the objectivity necessary for successful conflict resolution. Finally the world has seen the successful emergence of new nuclear powers such as India, Pakistan, Israel and possibly others and the need to recognize these nations is critical if their active membership within the United Nations is expected to remain steady. The current world...