Blog #7: The United Nations

The United Nation is an international peace organization created by 51 nations around the globe after the World War 2 to maintain a lasting world peace. After numerous stages of joining and adjusting, the United Nations officially came into existence on 24th October, 1945 (The United Nations day is celebrated on 24 October each year).In April 1945, delegates from 51 nations gathered in San Francisco to formally establish the UN. The United Nation was originally created in response to World War 2 and the fact that the League of Nations had failed. It was formed to keep the world peace by preventing and lessening the chance of another world war through solving conflicts between nations. The 4 purposes of UN are to keep world peace and prevent the outbreak of new wars, to help advance justice and law throughout the world, to defend human rights and help promote equality among different individuals and groups around the globe and to encourage friendly relations among nations. There were 5 significant stages that have led to the creation of the UN. First, the "United Nations" was coined by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was first used in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 Jan 1942 during WW2, when reps of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers. After two years, in the fall of 1944, officials form US, Britain, Soviet Union and China gathered At Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C where they laid plans for UN. Then, April 1945, delegates from 51 nations gathered in San Francisco to formally establish the UN. The Charter of the UN was signed on 26 June, 1945 in San Francisco and the UN officially came to existence on 24 October, 1945

 Canada has been active in the United Nations since its foundation in 1945. Canada's PM, Mackenzie King attended the UN conference in San Francisco. Although Canada was not one of the 'Big Five’, it had become a major middle power. He wanted to ensure that smaller nations like Canada would not be forced by the major powers. His voice was heard at the conference, and the UN charter was changed so that any country asked to contribute troops or money to UN security operations had to be consulted about the operations first. There are currently 15 peacekeeping operations and one special political mission, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

So what is the importance of UN? UN works for peacekeeping, peace building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. The United Nations and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our daily lives and work to make the world a better place. It works on variety of fundamental issues, from sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights, gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more, to achieve its goals and build a safer world for the future generations.

  What would have happened if UN never existed? Since the United Nations is a peacekeeping international Organization, it works to provide solutions, resolve the conflicts between the nations to keep fair relations among the countries, which mean without it there would be more frequent conflicts and fights among nations and a higher chance of another world war. Since the UN also works for human rights and the fundamental issues, such as refugees protection, disaster relief, human rights, gender equality, variety of developments, promoting democracy, etc, our daily lives would be negatively affected. (Less freedom and rights for humans, less equality among individuals, less efforts put into less fortunate, more human rights violation)

  What is its Significance to Canada? The first significance is that Canada has been a member of the UN organization for almost 12 years, which means it has contributed to UN's peace keeping operations by supporting with troops and money. For example, under UN, Canada served in the Korean War in the 1950's to defend South Korea along with the other 15 nations from UN. The second significance is that even though Canada played a significant role in WW1 and received some independence from Britain, it was still recognized as a small nation. However, with Canada's war effort during WWII, its importance as a source of food and goods, and its industrial and financial strength had made gained itself some attention by 1945. Therefore, the PM, Mackenzie King could attend the UN meeting in San Francisco and although Canada was a middle power, King's opinion of more respect for small nations was accepted and the charter was changed so that the small nations cannot be forced to supply troops or money for security operations. As a result, the creation of UN and its conference were another step for Canada's independence and its acknowledgement in the world. 

What is the difference between the League of Nations and the United Nations? I think that the key factor that differentiates the League of Nations and the United Nations is the equality of voice/power of the nations within the group. I think that the reasons why the League of Nations have failed its mission to keep the world peace are because of the ambition and the sense of revenge of the Nazi Germany, the treaty of Versailles which the league itself was created by (its harsh conditions toward Germany) and the inequality among the nations. The treaty of Versailles was planned and written by the major powers, which caused a sense of inequality within the group even though it was a peacekeeping group. In contrast, in the United Nations, all the member nations except for the Security Council members are all treated equally.