Three experts on the United Nations discussed the future of the organization in the post-Cold War era in a panel discussion last night in Dartmouth Hall.
Nitya Pibulsonggram '62, the permanent representative from Thailand to the U.N., Jonathan Moore '54, the former U.S ambassador to the U.N., and Edward Luck '70, the president of the United Nations Association of the USA emphasized the changing role of the U.N. and the inadequacy of funding and support from member nations.
"The United Nations is undergoing tremendous change because of the so-called end of the Cold War," Pibulsonggram said. "Unprecedented cooperation is now entirely possible."
Pibulsonggram said the U.N. has a new role to play in the facilitation of North-South relations, especially concerning economic issues.
The South wants "a just and equitable world economic order and the transfer of technology and financial resources from the North to the South," he said.
Pibulsonggram also emphasized the important new role of U.N. peacekeeping forces, which are currently involved in more operations than ever before.
He cited missions in Cambodia as an example of a "new type of peacekeeping operation" that involves rehabilitation, repatriation of refugees and reconstruction.
But while many of these peace-keeping operations are successful, their futures are uncertain due to a paradox of the new international system, Luck said.
Although it is easier to gain consensus and pass resolutions in the U.N. Security Council, because nations no longer have strong national interests in other countries, enforcing the resolutions is very difficult, Luck added.
In particular, Luck said U.N. forces do not have the capability to deal with the type of situations they are involved with now, because of the reluctance of its member countries, including the U.S., to make their troops or resources available.
Luck said the U.S. wants the U.N. to become the world's police force, but the U.N. lacks the military capacity to fill such a role.
"The UN depends on member states [for military forces]," he said.
The U.S. "wants multilateralism if it helps us get political legitimacy or involves sharing the burdens and costs," Luck said. "But, we don't really want to cede any of our national sovereignty to an international body."
Until the United States and other countries make a greater commitment to the U.N., it remains unable to enforce resolutions.
"The U.N. is an international cover for national cop-outs," Moore said. "Security Council resolutions are ineffective and ignored, as many passed by the General Assembly are."
According to Moore, the estimated peace-keeping budget is $4 billion a year, as opposed to an $8.3 billion total in the first 43 years the U.N. existed.
"There are serious shortfalls in funding," Moore said. "The U.N. is a financial and political beggar to the international community."
Unless the U.N. can procure more financial and military support, "the U.N. is highly susceptible to failure," Moore said.
"The U.N. is in a new era of limits," Moore said. "The U.N. has taken on things it doesn't have the backing to fulfill."
Luck agreed. "We are going to have to pick and choose where we are willing to make a sacrifice and where we want to make a difference," he said.
