This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Model UN conference hosted by the University of Chicago. The event, held at the Palmer House of Chicago, brought together youth from around the world. In essence, the goal of the conference was to give the participants an experience to what actually working at the UN means. With over a thousand participants, delegates represented nations all over the world in dozens of committees. While this gathering was only a mock event, it certainly did shed light onto what an actual UN committee does. I stated to think about what powers the actual UN has, and what is the significance of the UN. My experience led to my findings.
The quote by Adlai Stevenson does a great job in describing the goal of the UN. The purpose of the UN is to give every nation in the world an equal and fair opportunity in representing their own best interests. I came into the conference with this mindset. I was a delegate from the Czech Republic. Some of my colleagues however, were delegates from Eritrea. Unfortunately, everyone does not know where Eritrea is, let alone have heard of it. Eritrea is a perfect example of what a small country can do in the UN. Traditionally speaking, the large countries in the UN are the 5 permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. I experienced first hand the power of these nations this weekend.
As a delegate from the Czech Republic, I was neither a large nation with eternal power, nor a small unheard of nation. However, the fact that I was not apart of the Big 5 led to significant challenges in getting my resolutions passed. There were 5 original resolutions that were brought forward to the table in our committee this weekend. 4 out of the 5 were written by members of the Big 5. The truth is, smaller nations were not able to seriously address their own concerns. Well, these countries were allowed to speak on the floor, but their comments were not necessarily taken into high accord. The 5 resolutions later turned into 2. One co-written mainly by France and the US, while the other was mainly written by Russia and China. This just shows how influential and powerful large countries are in the UN.
So the question becomes, what does it mean to be a small nation in the UN? Actually, let's look at it even differently. What does it mean to be a nation other than the Big 5 in the UN? Theoretically, and according to Adlai Stevenson, each nation should be given an equal opportunity of representation. While that may be true, not all countries are listened to. All of these other countries I would like to consider as outsiders. Being an outsider in the UN essentially means that it is extremely difficult for you to pass your own legislature. I experienced this challenge first hand this weekend. As the delegate from the Czech Republic, no one seemed to listen to me. Ever. I understand the theory behind the UN. Unfortunately, I do not believe it is successful it its execution. The UN was formed to make everyone feel equal and represented. That is not the case when there are outsiders within such an entity.
Kuba you make a great point. I represented Eritrea this weekend in the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural committee, and while I was able to participate, I did feel a bit like an outsider. And as you said, I noticed many of the resolutions were led by France, China, Russia, the UK, or the US. Recently North Korea tested its 3rd nuclear weapon, and shortly after that the UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea's actions. We tend to look at North Korea as a disobedient nation that resists cooperation. But as a small nation it's voice may not be heard or have much of an influence within these large international organizations, and so instead they choose to separate themselves. This can also be seen in the European Union. As a majority stakeholder, Germany wants to strengthen the authority of the European Commission, whereas the smaller nations are more interested in protecting national sovereignty.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned North Korea. As much as it is a small nation, it still has a lot of support from specifically one large nation, China. One thing about the U.N. Security Council is that any one of the 5 permanent members can veto a security resolution. Whenever North Korea has an incident, it is often China that is in support of them. Therefore, North Korea is not always acting alone.
DeleteYou bring up an interesting point here Kuba. While, in theory, the UN was designed to create an organization where all countries, big and small, have an equal voice. The fact of the matter is that the structure of the UN inherently leads to inequity. By creating a system where there are "permanent members" and certain members are allowed on certain councils, the UN is unequal. Unfortunately, it seems as if the voice of the smaller nation has little place in the UN. I think that the UN often only takes strong action if it directly benefits its biggest, most prominent members. This fundamentally refutes the idea of the UN. The UN was designed to ensure that the two world wars did not repeat themselves. It has evolved into a peacekeeping organization to fight humanitarian crime and help prevent certain wars. I feel as if the UN has not been consistent in its policy towards interventionism. It seems as if this is a product of only a few countries truly having a voice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point Harry. Instead of the U.N. taking action on issues that mostly benefit its most prominent members, it should take action on issues that benefit the most number of its members. Unfortunately, I think you would agree with this, I do not see any of this changing any time soon.
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