NationStates Jolt Archive

I keep seeing various posts blasting one nation's foreign policy or another and saying that the UN didn't sanction this or says another action is illegal. What exactly does the UN do that is helpful to the world? Sure, they give humanitarian aid to various places but when we hear that some random person is killing it's citizens or one nation is fighting another, what do they do? They slap them on the wrist but really do nothing. Whichever side you're on with various conflicts such as the war in Iraq, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Korea's nukes, etc, what is the UN actually doing to make the world a better place? I'm not trying to flame the UN, I just have no clue what they're doing at the moment. Can someone enlighten me?

The UN can't work without the support of its members (which it doesn't have, thanks to foreign policy and imperialism...)

Well they've actually gone a long way to maintaining peace in the world, just not through peacekeeping. The orihinal concept of the UN is still what it is sucessfu, at, being a place for countries to keep aware of other countires concerns and make other countries aware of thier concerns - open communication. To an extent the UN also provides a bully pulpit, but the problem with using the pulpit is that too many outrageous sermons turns it into a soapbox. The do provide some humanitarian assistance (UNICEF & such) but they are far more important as a information clearinghouse about who needs/how sucessful is humanitarian assistance.

Any organisation that includes Sudan on its Human Rights Commission to investigate human rights abuses and enforce Human Rights Legislation has lost the plot. I think that answers the question for you.