United Nations - The UN has been effective Thesis: The UN has succeeded in some of its international responsibilities but has failed in others; and according to the UN Charter the UN may not intervene in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state… ONE: The UN has achieved many "remarkable accomplishments" (Encarta.msn.com) • The UN has negotiated 172 peace settlements that ended regional conflicts • The UN has participated in more than 300 international treaties • The UN's "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (adopted in 1948) has been helpful in raising the consciousness of the need for human rights • Over 3 million children a year have been saved from polio, measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis thanks to immunization programs by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations - the UN has been effective
The UN has succeeded in some of its international responsibilities but has failed in others; and according to the UN Charter the UN may not intervene in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state
The UN has achieved many "remarkable accomplishments" (Encarta.msn.com)
The UN has negotiated 172 peace settlements that ended regional conflicts
The UN has participated in more than 300 international treaties
The UN's "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (adopted in 1948) has been helpful in raising the consciousness of the need for human rights
Over 3 million children a year have been saved from polio, measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis thanks to immunization programs by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
The UN promotes worker's rights and improves agricultural techniques in developing countries
TWO: UN has success in Libya (Christian Science Monitor)
The UN Security Council unanimously awarded Libya's seat to the intern government that "toppled" Qaddafi
"this is the UN dealing with what it does well, a post-conflict issue" (Mark Quarterman, director, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
The White House said the UN's vote was the right one for Libya
THREE: The accomplishments of the United Nations (http://humanism.ws.)
The UN played a huge role in the downfall of apartheid in S. Africa
Currently there are 16 UN active peace-keeping forces in the world
More than 30 million refugees (from war, famine, etc.) have received relief assistance from the UN
United Nations
The UN has not been effective
ONE: UN confronts failure of diplomacy in Syria (Reuters)
The UN has not been able to end the bloody 21-month-old conflict
Over a year after negotiations began by the UN, nothing has been achieved
Each time the Security Council votes to sanction Syria for its aggression, either the U.S. Or Russia uses the veto power they have to nix a deal
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan resigned in frustration saying "the divided Security Council had undermined his efforts"
TWO: U.N. report details its failures in Sri Lanka (Mackey -- The Lede/NY Times)
By its own admission the UN report says it failed to protect civilians in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2009
An internal review panel in the UN reported that the "…tendency to see options for action in terms of dilemmas frequently obscured…UN responsibilities"
The "institutional culture of trade-offs" made decisions difficult
THREE: Paving the Road to Hell: The Failure of U.N. Peacekeeping (Foreign Affairs)
During the genocidal slaughter in Rwanda (1994) UN peacekeepers "stood by as Hutu slaughtered some 800,000 Tutsi" (Boot)
In Bosnia, the UN "declared safe areas for Muslims" but the UN did not help secure Muslims and the Serbs slaughtered "thousands in Srebrenica" (Boot)
A reporter investigating the UN peacekeeping activities believes that humanitarian aid "…may sometimes do more harm than good by prolonging a war"
United Nations
The UN has no right to get involved in other countries
ONE: Congressman Ron Paul introduced a bill that terminates U.S. involvement in the UN
Believing that the UN has no right to intervene or interfere in other countries' affairs, Paul introduced H.R. 1146.IH during the 111th Congress
H.R. 1146 if passed, would have terminated U.S. participation the UN (which was Public Law 79-264; 22 U.S.C. 287 et seq)
"No funds may be obligated or expended to support the participation of any member of the Armed Forces of the U.S. As part of any United Nations…peacekeeping operation or force" (H.R. 1146.IH)
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