Tuesday, November 09, 2004
- US - EUROPEAN RELATIONS
Lecturer: Prof. dr. Ruud Janssens
Political Relations: UN and Bilateral Relations. Presentation by Rhonda, Liang Xin & Carlein.
The League of Nations. Why did it fail?
1. lack of US participation
2. veto power of League members when themselves involved in conflict
3. idealism was too high
The United Nations: The creation
. Dubarton Oaks
. Yalta Conference
. San Francisco
The United Nations Charter
. Leadership for peace and security duties rests upon a small segment of the international community, primarily the great powers.
. Is the UN Charter set up for: peace keeping or peace establishment?
. Chapter 7 is entitled “Action with respect to:
- threats to the peace
- breaches of the peace
- and acts of agression
The United Nations System
. Trusteeship Council
. Security Council
. General Assembly
. Economic and Social Council
. International Court of Justice
. Secretariat
Opening of the Fifty-Ninth Session of the General Assembly, September 2004
. UN needs to find ways to respond to global challenges like:
- Infringements in the rules of law
- Conflicts
- HIV/AIDS
- Environmental issues
. For that the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) must work in harmony and fulfil their prerogatives under the Charter (General Assembly President Mr. Jean Ping)
- Liang Xin: Weakness & Willingness -- UN after the Cold War
Introduction
. There is strong evidence that shows how the operations of UN functions much weaker and weaker, going on the edge of its operation.
. For an instance, we can easily find how it malfunctions from Persian Gulf War to Kosovo War, then to the recent Iraq War in 2003, and how it is manipulated by the US unilateral policy.
. Peace is the United Nation's number one objective. Peacekeeping is an essential tool for the United Nations in its efforts to uphold international peace and security.
. Unfortunately, the Security Council, the most important UN body, was blocked for the duration of the Cold War. But then the huge political changes that took place between 1989 and 1990 seemed to usher in a period of new opportunity for the UN.
. Indeed, it is from this time that the "Agenda for Peace", one of the most important peace strategies of our time arises.
. However, the number, complexity and scope of peacekeeping operations expanded enormously, placing massive demands on the UN system with which it struggled to cope.
. During the post-cold war era, many missions ran into severe difficulties, such as the collapse of the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia in1993 and the famous peacekeeping disaster of Rwanda.
. Problems with UN peacekeeping operations were particular seen as salient.
Body
1. Brief generalization of how inefficient UN operated through two wars
a. The Persian Gulf War---UN as an instrument of U.S government
b. The Kosovo War------U.S-led NATO’s intervention in Kosovo before the authorization of UN Security Council
2. Focus on the Iraq War and U.S unilateralism
a. Failure to prevent and stop, challenged by U.S unilateralism
b. Iraqis resistant misunderstanding and hostility toward UN
c. UN---corrupt bureaucracy
d. The anomalous situation of Security Council
e. Difficulties UN reform faces
Conclusion
. As all the facts and analysis I have stated above, UN is based on the assumption that all members are of equal stature and have equal interests, aspirations and preoccupa-tions. That is a myth.
. Now, U.S is the only superpower in the world. There is no balance of power between great powers. Unless balance of power is restored, UN can have a better future. Like most critics see, UN is nothing but the sum total of members and thus cannot be blamed as much.
- Carlein: Individual Countries and the UN, US, EU, Russia, UK, France Official Positions and Internal Challenges
. Scenario 1: The Future of the UN
- US leaves (officially or in practise) the UN; the UN then becomes as irrelevant as the League of Nations once was
- Nothing changes: long live the status quo
- UN reforms and becomes stronger than before
. Scenario 2: Reform of the Security Council
- It becomes irrelevant: the General Assembly gets all the power
- nothing changes: long live the status quo
- abolish the veto power (alternatives)
- add countries with veto powers
. Question 1:
- The character of the UN - revision needed?
- For example reform of the agenda for peace needed or should the UN solely function as a humanitarian and cultural institution?
. Question 2:
- The toothless tiger: the future of UN sanctions and do they show the real weakness of the UN?
. Question 3:
- Are the advantages of the UN more important than the disadvantages?
- Should this mean that the status quo is more important and successful than any future reform in the UN?
. Question 4:
- The future of transatlantic relations, will they worsen if the current situation (and without reform in the UN) does not change?
- Should NATO become more relevant / important than UN, should NATO (with more effective measurements than UN) be incorporated in the UN?
. Question 5:
- What happens if the US breaks away from UN?
. Question 6 (or scenario?):
- The UN works best as it works today
- Change is too difficult and creates more problems then there are now
- There should always be reform because the world doesn't stop from changing either
- It will work as long as all countries put their own ego aside and work again for the better good of the common world.
Lecturer: Prof. dr. Ruud Janssens
Political Relations: UN and Bilateral Relations. Presentation by Rhonda, Liang Xin & Carlein.
- Rhonda: History and Structure of the United Nations
. Institutions leading up to the United Nations
1. Peace of Westphalia (1648)
2. Congress of Vienna (1815)
3. Concert of Europe (1830-1884)
4. League of Nations (1914-1946)
. Quotation: "prevention of mutual destruction which will be fatal to Christian civilization"; "creation of an international constitution"; "promote prosperous trade and continued peace" (Lord Robert Cecil, quoting his father 40 years prior to his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1938)
. Quotation: "It would be a master-stroke if those great powers bent on peace, would form a league of peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." (Theodore Roosevelt in 1910)The League of Nations. Why did it fail?
1. lack of US participation
2. veto power of League members when themselves involved in conflict
3. idealism was too high
The United Nations: The creation
. Dubarton Oaks
. Yalta Conference
. San Francisco
The United Nations Charter
. Leadership for peace and security duties rests upon a small segment of the international community, primarily the great powers.
. Is the UN Charter set up for: peace keeping or peace establishment?
. Chapter 7 is entitled “Action with respect to:
- threats to the peace
- breaches of the peace
- and acts of agression
The United Nations System
. Trusteeship Council
. Security Council
. General Assembly
. Economic and Social Council
. International Court of Justice
. Secretariat
Opening of the Fifty-Ninth Session of the General Assembly, September 2004
. UN needs to find ways to respond to global challenges like:
- Infringements in the rules of law
- Conflicts
- HIV/AIDS
- Environmental issues
. For that the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) must work in harmony and fulfil their prerogatives under the Charter (General Assembly President Mr. Jean Ping)
- Liang Xin: Weakness & Willingness -- UN after the Cold War
Introduction
. There is strong evidence that shows how the operations of UN functions much weaker and weaker, going on the edge of its operation.
. For an instance, we can easily find how it malfunctions from Persian Gulf War to Kosovo War, then to the recent Iraq War in 2003, and how it is manipulated by the US unilateral policy.
. Peace is the United Nation's number one objective. Peacekeeping is an essential tool for the United Nations in its efforts to uphold international peace and security.
. Unfortunately, the Security Council, the most important UN body, was blocked for the duration of the Cold War. But then the huge political changes that took place between 1989 and 1990 seemed to usher in a period of new opportunity for the UN.
. Indeed, it is from this time that the "Agenda for Peace", one of the most important peace strategies of our time arises.
. However, the number, complexity and scope of peacekeeping operations expanded enormously, placing massive demands on the UN system with which it struggled to cope.
. During the post-cold war era, many missions ran into severe difficulties, such as the collapse of the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia in1993 and the famous peacekeeping disaster of Rwanda.
. Problems with UN peacekeeping operations were particular seen as salient.
Body
1. Brief generalization of how inefficient UN operated through two wars
a. The Persian Gulf War---UN as an instrument of U.S government
b. The Kosovo War------U.S-led NATO’s intervention in Kosovo before the authorization of UN Security Council
2. Focus on the Iraq War and U.S unilateralism
a. Failure to prevent and stop, challenged by U.S unilateralism
b. Iraqis resistant misunderstanding and hostility toward UN
c. UN---corrupt bureaucracy
d. The anomalous situation of Security Council
e. Difficulties UN reform faces
Conclusion
. As all the facts and analysis I have stated above, UN is based on the assumption that all members are of equal stature and have equal interests, aspirations and preoccupa-tions. That is a myth.
. Now, U.S is the only superpower in the world. There is no balance of power between great powers. Unless balance of power is restored, UN can have a better future. Like most critics see, UN is nothing but the sum total of members and thus cannot be blamed as much.
- Carlein: Individual Countries and the UN, US, EU, Russia, UK, France Official Positions and Internal Challenges
. Scenario 1: The Future of the UN
- US leaves (officially or in practise) the UN; the UN then becomes as irrelevant as the League of Nations once was
- Nothing changes: long live the status quo
- UN reforms and becomes stronger than before
. Scenario 2: Reform of the Security Council
- It becomes irrelevant: the General Assembly gets all the power
- nothing changes: long live the status quo
- abolish the veto power (alternatives)
- add countries with veto powers
. Question 1:
- The character of the UN - revision needed?
- For example reform of the agenda for peace needed or should the UN solely function as a humanitarian and cultural institution?
. Question 2:
- The toothless tiger: the future of UN sanctions and do they show the real weakness of the UN?
. Question 3:
- Are the advantages of the UN more important than the disadvantages?
- Should this mean that the status quo is more important and successful than any future reform in the UN?
. Question 4:
- The future of transatlantic relations, will they worsen if the current situation (and without reform in the UN) does not change?
- Should NATO become more relevant / important than UN, should NATO (with more effective measurements than UN) be incorporated in the UN?
. Question 5:
- What happens if the US breaks away from UN?
. Question 6 (or scenario?):
- The UN works best as it works today
- Change is too difficult and creates more problems then there are now
- There should always be reform because the world doesn't stop from changing either
- It will work as long as all countries put their own ego aside and work again for the better good of the common world.
# posted by Agustin @ 10:29 PM 
