Reaction to "United Nations fails to unite on Syria violence"(CBS News)

Unrest in Syria

Map of Syria and the middle east

As in many Middle Eastern and Northern African nations, there is a current situation of political unrest currently in the nation of Syria.








When fighting began between Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, the United Nations got involved. The United Nations Security Council approved a "no-fly zone" over Libya. As with all decisions made by the UN Security Council, it was unanimous (there were no "naye" votes).
However, as political unrest spread further throughout the region, a different tone has been taken by some. In Syria, when unrest began, the United States, European Union, and others immediately condemned the actions of the reigning government. However, when sanctions and other actions were being discussed at the UN Security Council, no action was taken. Usually, Security Council meetings are closed-door. However, since the Security Council wanted to send a message, they held an open-door meeting, where there was not a clear message, as Russia, Lebanon, and China were skeptical after the U.S. air strike on Libya in March. Although it is clear that the Syrian government is oppressing its citizens to the point that some people want the U.N. to prosecute the government for “Crimes Against Humanity”,  the UN cannot condemn actions or send in peacekeepers using the Security Council. They have asked for “urgent access to the southern city of Daraa in order to assess the humanitarian needs on the ground” , since the Syrian army is carrying out an operation in the city, firing at unarmed civilians, preventing medical personnel from helping the wounded, raiding mosques and arresting others. Even those these are clearly a violation of “understood” human rights and perhaps a violation of U.N. Human Rights code, no formal action is being taken. Even more shocking is that Syria is vying for a position on the U.N. Human Rights Council, for which elections are being held soon for. Although it is shocking that no action can be taken against Syria, it is part of what makes the UN a global platform, where all views are represented. Since there will always be differentiating views,  it will always be a struggle to get a unanimous decision, even if something clearly needs to be done.

Link to article: 
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20058190-503544.html

Reaction to “UN Peacekeeping” -Videos from the United Nations, Al-Jazeera English, and UPI

One major component to the United Nations is peacekeeping. The first UN peacekeeping took place in Israel, in 1948, and that is certainly not the only one. Currently, UN peacekeepers are engaged in 15 nations around the world (Current UN peacekeeping operations). In this current fiscal year, only $7.83 billion is being spent on the peacekeeping program, which is 0.5% of global military spending. That being said, the peacekeeping program has a hard time of always keeping the peace. As well, for peacekeepers to be present, there must be “consent of the parties” and “impartiality”. However, in many of the situations that peacekeepers are involved in, that does not happen, as in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, peacekeepers helped rescue Tutsis so that they could be protected from Hutus.  Peacekeepers are not only involved in preventions of genocide, but in any situation where peace and security are at risk. Almost all of the time, when troops can be fielded, they do admirable work, to the point that they won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize. However, the troops are at the mercy of member nations, and if they choose not to help, these troops cannot work. 81% of peacekeeping monetary funding (some nations fund by other means) come from ten nations, all of which are wealthy nations. However, there is a perception that the peacekeepers do nothing and are powerless (see video) . 

There have also been scandals that have plagued the UN peacekeeping mission, especially since with many of its problems, there is no enforcement (see video below).  (The "enforcement" problem is universal within the UN, as some nations contribute nothing when they are obliged to do so)

However, almost everyone acknowledges that UN peacekeepers assist when needed and “keep the peace”, even if there are inequalities between nations, nations that refuse to contribute, and scandals that have dogged it.  In order for the good such as in the video below to be accomplished more often, there needs to be more pressure on nations to contribute and for soldiers to work hard to keep the peace, instead of taking illegal actions.

 As you can see, peacekeepers participate in quelling  both political and humanitarian conflicts

"Ghosts of Rwanda" and the United Nations

After watching the 2004 episode of Frontline “Ghosts of Rwanda” (lots of information on it on the “Ghosts of Rwanda page of the blog), I felt much differently about the role of the United Nations than I had before. I had thought of the United Nations as a facilitator of peace and peaceful resolutions, as a body that has the power to prevent anything and make real change. However, after watching “Ghosts of Rwanda”, which describes the lead-up, the genocide itself, and the aftermath of the horrific 1994 Rwandan genocide, my view on the UN changed. In “Ghosts of Rwanda”, General Romeo Dallaire, a Canadian military officer who led peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda, as a man who strived to do everything he could to prevent the genocide before it started, and once it started, to lessen its effect. However, it showed the head of UN Peacekeeping, Kofi Annan, as dismissive regarding reliable intelligence regarding a planned genocide, which is against the UN rules, as the UN and its member nations are obliged to stop conspiracies of genocide. After Annan dismissed Dallaire’s report, genocide occurred in Rwanda, and almost no member nations let their peacekeeping troops stay in Rwanda (Ghana was the primary exception to this). Due to this, the UN could not keep peace with only 400 peacekeeping troops from the armies of developing nations, and no support from the United States in Europe. This shows that although every nation has made a promise to the United Nations, almost no nations actually kept it. What is the meaning of a law or agreement when nobody follows it? In order for the United Nations to have a real impact on preventing genocide before it starts, or if it starts, to stop it quickly, is for it to enforce all member nations to aid it in order to stop it. Here is a segment from “Ghosts of Rwanda” (it’s segment 2/12. The other segments are also available on YouTube, but this has the most information regarding the UN)