United Nations@75
Shift
in Power-equations
Power politics is apart and parcel of International
relations. Power politics must be regulated for the welfare of people around
the world. Within that framework, UN has been playing an effective role to
maintain International peace and security. It has provided a platform to the
great powers to negotiate their differences at the International level.
In the post-cold war
era, for a brief period, USA emerged as a sole super power and dominated the
world politics. USA unilaterally took several actions in international
relations disregarding UN system.
USA launched missile
attacks against Sudan and Afghanistan in 1998. It attacked Yugoslavia in 1999.
George W Bush’s Global War on Terror was the response to the 9/11 terrorist
attack by the Al-Qaeda.
On 19 March 2003, the US launched its
invasion on Iraq under the codename ‘Operation New Dawn’.
The apparentrationale of the invasion was to avert
Iraq from expandingits Weapons for mass destruction (WMD). Since no evidence of
WMD has been unearthed in Iraq, it is believed that the invasion was motivated
by other objectives, such as controlling Iraqi oilfields and installing a
regime friendly to the US.
All these above-mentioned armed interventionsin
other sovereign countries by the US forces were done unilaterally without any
consultation at the United Nations.
There are numerous developments which have
taken place in International relations since 2005 and China has been able to
put up a formidable counter balance to the US hegemony in world politics. The
influence of the People’s Republic of China has steadily grown in the
international relations as well as among the 193 member UN General Assembly.
The rise of China as a counter balance is a
positive development as it would prevent US to take any unilateral action in
the international relations. For example, USA and Israel have been
contemplating air strikes against Iran. But this plan was not carried out as it
was opposed by many countries including some of the allies of USA.
At the same time, the presence of USA as a powerful
country would prevent China to act unilaterally.
The United Nations was created so that all
the countries of the world can come forward and discuss under the competent
guidelines to resolve all teething issues.
UN provides a platform to the countries
including the super powers to negotiate their differences and to find out
lasting solutions to the issues faced collectively by all the countries of the
world.
“The United Nations
was not created to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell.” — Dag
Hammarskjold, the UN’s second Secretary-General.
This basic point has been captured by the
given citation of –Dag Hammarskjold:
UN would continue to play an effective role
in the process of revitalisation of International relations among the nations
of the world.
BHANWAR CHARAN
TGT- SOCIAL SCIENCE
THE MANN SCHOOL
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