Inefficiency of United Nations

Source-This post on the Inefficiency of United Nations has been created based on the article “The global order — a fraying around many edges” published in “The Hindu” on 26 February 2024.

News-The article highlights the challenges to post-World War order and limitation of the United Nation in addressing this challenge.

What are the challenges to post world war order?

1) Major global institutions dominated by the west- The old-world powers like U.S.A and European colonial countries controls power structures of the new institutions.
For ex- a) The World Bank is always headed by an American citizen. b) Western Europe gets to nominate the head of the IMF.

2) Veto power of permanent members– Developing world has tried to group under G-77 and NAM to advance their legitimate demands. However, they could not overcome the veto at the Security Council.

3) Rise of ad-hoc groups– There are many multilaterals and plurilateral groupings. For ex-OECD, QUAD etc.
However, they have a narrow focus and do not address issues of global concern. It attaches more importance to regional interest than global interest.

4) Covid Pandemic-It has aggravated the problems of de-globalization by restriction on movement of people.

5) Regional wars– Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, war in Gaza has exposed the failure of U.N. to protect the violation of human rights.

A detailed article on the Shortcomings of UN can be read here.

Can any regional organization replace the UN system?

1) The organizations and groupings outside the UN are all ad hoc and serve limited interests rather than universal values.

2) Organization like North Atlantic Treaty Organization are limited alliances created to ensure regional security.

3) Most of the organizations do not have global treaties and binding legal obligations thus they are not effective.

Conclusion– The United nation may have its own challenges but there is no regional institution which can replace it. Hence, there is a need for changes in the functioning of the United Nations so that it can ensure global peace and prosperity.