Amidst the increasing scope of the Iran-America war, questions are being raised on the relevance of the United Nations (UN) organization and its Security Council. At the time of any global crisis, this organization is expected to intervene and mediate. Reduce the risk of war or play an effective role in preventing it and provide relief from the tragedy and suffering of war. But in the last few years, the role of the United Nations in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Gaza conflict or the latest Iran-America conflict appears to be symbolic.
To answer why such a situation arose, the establishment, interventions, successes and failures of the United Nations have to be seen in the mirror of changing global politics. A look at the role of the world’s largest organization in history in light of the current crisis.
New organization after the failure of League of Nations
After the First World War, in 1919, some countries of the world established the League of Nations. But this organization failed to stop the second world war. The wounds of the Second World War were deep. Atomic bomb was used for the first time in this. The entire humanity was disturbed by the countless deaths and ill effects of radiation caused by these bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The indescribable pain of this great war taught us that to solve disputes and problems, we have to find a path of peace and not war. The question was how is this possible? The need was felt that there should be an effective platform for this at the international level. With this intention the United Nations Organization was established on 24 October 1945.
Traces of devastation in Iran after American and Israeli attacks. Photo: AP/PTI
Veto power of five countries becomes a challenge
The initiative to establish the organization was taken by the heads of the friendly nations. In the San Francisco Conference of 1945, 50 countries signed the United Nations Charter. The main objectives of this charter include maintaining international peace and security, increasing cooperation among member countries, protecting human rights and promoting economic and social development. The most important unit of the organization was the Security Council, which was given the power to take decisions on questions of war and peace.
The United Nations Organization was established on 24 October 1945.
Of the total 15 members in the Security Council, 5 were made permanent members, who were given veto power. The result of the power given to five such countries, America, Russia, England, France and China, is that if any one of them opposes any proposal, that proposal cannot be passed. This additional power assigned to the victorious countries of the Second World War for their effective role in the organization later became the reason for the weakness of the organization.
After initial successes it became a platform for superpowers
The Security Council played an effective role in the initial years of its establishment. During the Korean War in 1950, the Security Council authorized military action against North Korea. It was the biggest military action of the United Nations. Although America played the main role in this. In the Suez Crisis of 1956, the United Nations helped control the conflict by sending peacekeeping forces.
United Nations peacekeeping forces played an important role during the Congo crisis of the 1960s. These achievements established the United Nations as an active forum for world peace. But soon the United Nations became a platform for the politics of the vetoed superpowers.
Iran is burning with attacks. Photo: AP/PTI
Rwanda’s failure to stop Srebrenica genocide disappointed
In the Cold War that lasted until the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, all the countries of the world were divided into two groups. Some non-aligned countries like India were exceptions. Otherwise most of the countries were under the influence of America or Soviet Union. During this period, veto power was used excessively in the Security Council. The Soviet Union used this right for its supporting countries approximately 120 times between 1946-1991. America also adopted the same path for its group. As a result, the United Nations was not in a position to intervene effectively during many international crises.
During the Gulf War in 1991, the Security Council approved military action against Iraq. Its role was also effective in the peace operations in Herzegovina, Kosova and East Timor. But in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 in which approximately 8 lakh people were killed, the United Nations could not do anything. The situation was similar in the Srebrenica Genocide in Bosnia in 1995 when the UN peacekeeping force failed to stop the killing of thousands of civilians. These failures seriously damaged the credibility of the organization.
sidelined by superpowers
The US attack on Iraq in 2003 raised deep questions on the relevance of the United Nations. America attacked Iraq even without permission from the Security Council. The message was clear that the superpowers can bypass the United Nations if they wish. The Syria and Ukraine crisis also revealed the helplessness of the United Nations. The Security Council remained divided due to the repeated use of veto by Russia and China on the issue of the Syrian civil war that started in 2011. Even in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine since 2022, the Security Council could not take any decisive action.
Russia itself is a permanent member of the Council. This is the situation during the ongoing Iran-America war. The fire of destruction is burning far in the Gulf countries. The world is scared of the possibility of a third world war. It seems unlikely that the United Nations can become an effective platform to stop this. Once again the question is being raised whether the United Nations is still an effective platform for global peace? Has the United Nations become irrelevant?
Major reforms necessary for effective role
Perhaps the answer is not so simple. The organization has played a good role in many crises through the peacekeeping forces of the member countries. Its efforts in humanitarian and refugee assistance among war victims or during natural disasters have been life-saving. The organization’s efforts are continuing through global agreements on climate change and health organizations like UNICEF and WHO. But especially because of the weakness that this organization has shown during many recent wars, the need for major reforms is being felt in it. For this, it is considered necessary to expand the Security Council, control the veto power and provide permanent membership in the Security Council to new global powers like India.
Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan had once said that the United Nations is a reflection of the world. If the world is divided then the organization will also be divided. We have to understand the reality that the world has become multi-polar. In such a situation, without reforming the structure of the United Nations, there seems to be little scope for it to be effective.
Also read: Neither friend nor enemy, why are the relations between India and Iran so strained?