The United Nations is now 75. It’s a landmark event for an Organisation that carries its weight with nations as being the single entity that guides the world, though its powers are limited. The UN was born in October 1945, after imbibing grim lessons from World War II and learning from the failure of the League of Nations. It promises to work for peace and strive to avert future wars. The UN has played and continues to play an eminent role in this respect with the collective will of its member nations, now numbering 193.
Headquartered in New York, and a major part of its funds coming from the US government, the American influence on it is spectacular even as UN aims to take decisions in an impartial manner. Addressing the UN this week, via video call from New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed for reforms for the Organisation that has carried on without major changes for three quarters of a century. Indeed reforms are called for to make the UN more effective in its handling of international matters.
The UN failed on occasions; as in the US-Iraq War that threw Saddam Hussein out of power in the beginning of this century. Sovereign nations should not be challenged from outside. The US cobbled an alliance of the big powers from the West and went to war with Saddam on the perceived ground that he stocked chemical weapons. Perhaps it was simply an excuse for the US to oust the ruler and grab Iraq’s oil wealth. The UN could not stand up to the dictates of then US president George Bush Junior. The devastation it caused was unimaginable. The dust is yet to settle.
The UN is run essentially by a club of big nations forming part of its Security Council. India’s attempt to be included in the SC has not succeeded so far, while China is a full-time member of the Council. Right or wrong, China uses its clout at the UN to favour its ally Pakistan, much to the disadvantage of India. Africa as a continent does not have a presence in the SC. Enlarging the number of full-time SC members has been a call that has gone unheeded for decades.
In Climate Change and such matters of global concern, the UN has been doing a good job, though the results are not always inspiring. More needs be done and the UN must have the clout to push matters to their logical conclusion. On the humanitarian front, the UN is doing a commendable job through its various arms. Entities like the WHO and IMF are also doing a great service to humanity. Hence strengthening the role of the UN is a matter of urgency.