States are the Most Powerful Global Actor

The UN has an agreement with all other nation states to not get in conflict with each other and to settle differences in meetings to prevent another world war. It also makes them stronger as a

The United Nations fights for humanitarian issues through the use of peaceful dialogue between countries and leaders. The UN's powers of authorising peacekeeping, sanctions and force when absolutely necessary is given to it by the UN charter, an international treaty. They are limited by the fact that they cannot make their resolutions and policies the law, however the important conversations they start and ideas that are shared are influential upon the many powerful leaders who choose to listen.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and is argued to have power to intervene in the most serious issues which disrupt world order.

The United Nations was to be a place where there was peace between the countries, a place where they can dispute their differences, a place to support each other and benefit from the allies a country made by being in the United Nations. It was “designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members” (Document B). Not long after it was founded, it started falling apart. People had different idea of how it should have been ran but the people who got their way was the bigger and stronger countries. They came to an agreement that the bigger countries—the United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China—would have veto power and the other countries that were a part of it would take smaller roles in the decisions

The era of globalization has witnessed the growing influence of a number of unconventional international actors, from non-governmental organizations, to multi-national corporations, to global political movements. Traditional, state-centric definitions of foreign policy

The United Nations is a vessel to keep the peace, they work to prevent conflicts, step in and help parties in conflict to make peace; peacekeeping; and creating the conditions to allow peace. The UN security council has the primary responsibility for the aforementioned. They are the division of the UN that is responsible for maintaining international peace and security. There are fifteen members and each member has one vote, and under the charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with the council’s decisions (The United Nations, n.d.). The United Nations along with the security council was formed in 1945, leaders of 50 nations met in San Francisco with representatives of non-government organizations. It took place at the end of the second world war to prevent that type of widespread destruction, they formed the United Nations.

At this point in time, the main actors in the international system are nation-states seeking an agenda of their own based on personal gain and national interest. Significantly, the most important actor is the United States, a liberal international economy, appointed its power after the interwar period becoming the dominant economy and in turn attained the position of hegemonic stability in the international system. The reason why the United States is dominating is imbedded in their intrinsic desire to continuously strive for their own national interest both political and economic. Further, there are other nature of actors that are not just nation-states, including non-states or transnational,

In Article 2 of the U.N. Charter, it requires that all members "settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered. Most importantly, member states agree to a broad prohibition against use of force: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.'' These words

The Security Council is structured in a way that it is only able to endlessly function if there is a representative from each member state at the United Nations headquarters, this is so that if an important issue arose and there was a call for a meeting all the members states are able to cooperate and contribute equally to help resolve the issue. The Security Council became more active after the cold war, it is the only body in the world which is able to tell member states what to do without their consent. Within the Security Council there are fiver permanent members; United Kingdom, Unites States of America, Russia, France and China, these five

For a mission to be peacekeeping, the UN needs to be invited by at least one side, and more commonly two. The forces on a peacekeeping mission are usually lightly armed in order to prevent them from acting aggressively, while also confirming its role as a peacekeeper that is neutral. The main role of the peacekeepers is to act as a buffer and report when a country violates a ceasefire. The peacekeeping force enters after the conflict has started and its mission is to fulfill the mandate provided by the council. Lately peacekeeping missions have focused more on aid and state building rather than just preventing conflict. Recently there have been calls for the UN to move from peacekeeping to peace enforcement in some situations. Peace enforcement usually requires a larger, better, and heavier equipped force that won’t just keep the peace, but enforce it if it has too. With peace enforcement, the UN would like to stop more conflicts before they start because the threat of a large UN force being called in might make some countries question going on the offensive in a war. For a peace enforcement mission to be successful, the orders and mandate given must be very clear to the troops so that they can respond in war in real time and not be held up in bureaucracy. Peace enforcement also doesn’t require the force to be impartial or to find the aggressor, but to work in the most efficient way possible to end the fighting.

Analysts agree that TNCs have altered the international relations principles that were once dominated by nation-state relations (Kline, 2005).Transnational Corporations have in many ways exploited the weaknesses in the territorially guarded national laws. In many developing countries, organizations affiliated to external control have challenged and in some instances threatened government sovereignty. Economically stable countries such as the United States of America, have attempted to extend their influence to other countries of the world through TNC. This situation is what led to governments endorsing the non-interference policy in national political affairs (United Nations, 2003). Interesting to note is the role that non-governmental organizations played in this debate. Nongovernmental organizations have been known to not only exert political pressure on governments with little democratic space, but also collaborate with TNCs in this quest. (Heinrich, 2001). For example, many NGOs sort the active involvement of TNC in removal of the apartheid regime in South Africa. This in return, has created tension between these governments and the NGOs with the NGOs calling for the increased political involvement of the TNCs.

State is commonly referred to either the present condition of a system or entity, or to a governed entity, such as a nation or a province. The state itself consists of the society, government as well as the people living there. Before the Second World War, State is often seen as the main actor in international Relations as it can declare states of wars, control most of the economic influence within the region and larger states often dominant the role of international relations within the region or even in the globe. However, after the Second World War, the impacts on state influence as an actor has become less important than before, regarding to this point, there is

“ Here is a task truly of, by and for the world, one that should rally nations. The nature of this task however, must be clearly understood; only then can suitable means for accomplishing it be formulated, only then can the role that the United Nations could and should play be appreciated” ( Wilcox/Haviland, 29). There are many international organizations that have been talked about throughout this semester. One of the most important ones is The United Nations. The United Nations was established October 24, 1945, and has since then been impacting the country. The United Nations main purpose according to the lecture notes is “ to provide a global additional structure through which states can sometimes settle conflicts with less reliance on the use of force , for whole purpose of the United Nations is to provide the globe a forum by which countries may settle disputes through this forum peacefully as opposed to relying on a force which has been the case historically” ( Kopalyan, Module 8). Thus meaning The United Nations was set up to handle problems peacefully rather than going to war to try and solve problems. “Powerful economic as well as political forces are at work to bring about a growing integration of the world community, and the United Nations and its related agencies are uniquely fitted to assist in the task” (Wilcox/Haviland,45). This was some of the reason that the United Nations was created.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the six chapters assigned for this week. First, in Weiss et al.’s first chapter entitled The Theory of UN Collective Security, the authors elaborate on the foundation and purpose of the United Nations serves on a global scale by means of collectivity. Second, chapter four entitled Evolving Security Operations: Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya, and Syria, provides specific examples of relations between the United Nations and individual nation-states, the progress the UN has made in developing countries, and how the resistance the UN faces affect the organization as well as the population they serve. Third, chapter ten of Weiss et al.’s book, Sustainable Development as Process: UN Organizations and Norms focuses on the humanitarian efforts of the UN, especially in the focus of establishing self-sufficiency in developing countries. Then the three chapters in Pease’s book, Security, The Environment, and Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues, focus on three key issues facing the international organizations today.

The United Nations is widely regarded and respected as the most powerful institution that promotes international cooperation and human rights action. In theory, actions implemented by and within the United Nations are based on the mutual global goal of protecting international human rights and preventing human sufferings. These actions are constituted through three main mechanisms: the Treaty-based system, the Human Rights Council, and Security Council and Humanitarian Interventions, with the level of confrontation and seriousness in each mechanism increases respectively. While aimed to serve the mutual goal of protecting human rights over the world and have shown some successes, in a world of sovereignty, actions when implemented are in fact grounded by the national interests of each state, including embracing its national sovereignty, concreting its strategic relationships with other states, and enhancing its reputation in the international community. This paper will analyze the successes and failures of each of the three mechanisms of the United Nations regime, through which it aims to prove that when it comes to actions, states focus more on their national, and in some cases, regional interests than on the mutual goal of strengthening human rights throughout the world, thus diminishing the legitimacy of the whole United Nations system.