United Nations
The United Nations is composed of a unique mixture of high ideals and realpolitik.
The ideals come from its foundation during and after the Second World War, the War against Fascism. Its principles are expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was composed and agreed in an amazingly short time after the end of the war, in a spirit of wanting to prevent a repeat of its horrors.
Unfortunately we are now facing that repeat, with Trump behaving like a fascist dictator in the USA, (albeit an incompetent one) and his biggest fan, Farage, being platformed by right-wing British Press, shock-jocks and, sadly, the BBC.
At the same time, the United Nations has been effectively side-lined by the USA since the time of the Bush-Blair war on Iraq.
The United Nations (UN) have long been held back by their longstanding inability to reform the Security Council (UNSC), which clearly needs to remove the veto of the Permanent Five – China, France, Russia, UK and USA, who are there as a result of their victory in the War Against Fascism, and also because they were for a long time the only states equipped with nuclear weapons.
The UN has also been let down by a succession of scandals, where UN peacekeeping troops were found to be engaged in sexual exploitation, including exploitation of minors. The troops involved were sent home, but not punished, often because their home countries did not have advanced legal systems.
The UN also had a failure when Saudi Arabia, a country towards the bottom of the Index of Human Rights, was given the chairmanship of the UN Human Rights Committee.
These failures play into the hands of neo-liberals in the West who want to set the UN aside completely, so that the US can continue in its role as the self-appointed world policeman. The aberrations of the Presidency of Trump, culminating with his disastrous 2026 war on Iran, may signal the end of this role for the USA.
For all its failings and its need for reform, we still need the UN, not least because most of the measures put forward here need to be rolled out by the United Nations.
Many of its inadequacies may be laid at the door of inadequate funding. It used to be said that the core funding of the UN is comparable with the funding of the New York City Police Department. The situation may be worse than that now given that Trump has cut the US contributions severely.
The UN used to be supported by United Nations Associations in many countries. The UK has such an Association, UNA-UK which is active and well worth joining. It used to have a vibrant policy discussion when members could put forward policy motions, but this was sadly cut a few years ago, and activity seems quieter since. Perhaps it should be reinstated.
Achievements of the UN
Peacekeepers Over the years, a million peacekeepers have been deployed to keep warring factions apart in places like Namibia, Mozambique and Cambodia.
Talking Negotiations and diplomacy are facilitated in UN spaces
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides an ethical framework for leaders everywhere. It is a lesson learned from the War Against Fascism, and we would abandon it at our peril.
Colonialism was dismantled onunder the UNs watchful eye.
Apartheid came to an end peacefully with the UNs help.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) enable the eradication of smallpox, and the child mortality rate has been halved.
Protection of the environment in the 1987 Montreal Protocol banned the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were damaging the ozone layer. Unfortunately the coal oil and gas industries are far more powerful and wealthy than the handful of companies that manufactured CFCs, and we still have a battle on our hands to overcome the rearguard action conducted by mega-corporations like ESSO/EXXON.
The Millenium Development Goals lifted a billion out of extreme poverty, providing clean water, addressing poverty, education and climate issues.
Women’s Equality is a central issue if we are to achieve a sustainable world economy, and the UN has helped us to see maternal mortality drop by 40% since 2000, and representation of women in parliaments has doubled since 1995.
Prevention of future wars will require action within the United Nations.
If we did not have the UN we would have to invent a new one.
Neoliberal ideology is based on the individual and the corporation, so cooperation and communal activity are alien to their thought, and through their control and influence within the billionaire owned the media they are able to marginalise and weaken the UN.
We must defeat neoliberalism.
