Thus, "by late 1992, the catastrophic situation in Somalia had outstripped the UN's ability to quickly restore peace and stability, mainly because the UN was hamstrung by insufficient forces and UN peacekeeping principles and methods could not cope with the need to use force in such complex situations. On 3 December 1992, UN Security Council Resolution 794 authorised a coalition of UN members led by the U.S. To form UNITAF and intervene to protect the delivery of humanitarian assistance and restore peace." (ANZAC, 1)
Here is an interesting orientation which begins to the more clearly illustrated one of the core conflicts here discussed. In our research, we come repeatedly across evidence that the United Nations has essentially failed to ever achieve a real autonomy from the interests of its most powerful member states. Most specifically in this instance, as in a great many others which have persisted throughout the history of the United Nations, we can see that such nations as the United States have a greater influence on proceedings than many of their counterparts. Though in the instance of Somalia it soon becomes apparent that the resources and flexibility uniquely availed to the powerful U.S. would be necessary in the face of U.N. shortcomings, future instances such as Iraq will demonstrate that where the will of such a nation is contrary to that of the U.N., the former will prevail over the latter.
This discussion will return to this idea hereafter. In the instance of Somalia, the limitations to peacekeeping would ultimately be redressed through the individual commission of specific national forces. And to the point, the outcome in this instance must surely be seen as a positive indicator of that which peacekeeping missions can hope to provide in the long run. Indeed, though Somalia was, 15 years ago, ensconced in disarray and violence, "Somalia today is a very different place... The chaos that followed the massive UNBOSOM intervention has been replace by security and stability in the north of the country and glimmers of hope for peace in the central and southern areas." (ANZAC, 1) Indeed, in the case of Somalia, all indications are that the ultimate outcome of the U.N. presence would be to save lives as intended. An argument, nonetheless, can still be made that a greater flexibility and autonomy from the outset would have allowed it to save yet more lives by the prevention or curtailing of initial violence.
Still, as Durch ably points out, and Somalia begins to illustrate, "part of the UN's problem is its basic lack of autonomy and its habituation to rhetoric, a learned response from its first forty years of political stalemate (first East-West, and then North-South). The Organization has rarely seemed more than the sum of its arguing parts." (Durch, 3) This core problem has rendered it in many instances incapable of acting before significant damage has already been perpetrated.
Another example where this argument can be made would be in the splintered former Yugoslavia. Here, the regions of Kosovo and Serbia were engaged in an ongoing conflict in which ethnic cleansing and the violent dictatorship of Slobedan Milosevic had produced despair and widespread death in the former Soviet state. Once again, this was an example of a power vacuum which had allowed for the warring factions of the nation to slide into irreconcilable aggression. In this instance, the peacekeeping force would not only come too late to restrain internal destruction but would also be too late to prevent intervention in the form of a heavily criticized NATO bombing campaign. (Wikipedia, 1) Here, the violence had begotten further violence with the U.N. incapable of stepping in before the smoke had cleared. The reactionary inflexibility may also be the reason why Yugoslavia continues to experience tension, with 16,000 U.N. forces still there a decade after the initial mission in order to maintain stability. (Wikipedia, 1) There is, however, a positive example in the instance of the Kosovo War in the form of the trial of Milosevic. Here, peacekeeping forces demonstrated their capacity for intervention to the extent of removing problematic or criminal leadership. This concerns the use, once again, of implied powers. And indeed, Milosevic was the precedent setting defendant in a war crime s tribunal.
Thus, the role of implied powers for the U.N., in general terms, has been to enable the organization to grow in strength as it matures. Its world security responsibilities detail that the U.N. is authorized to bring about peaceful...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now