The United Nations...is it a bad or good thing?

[MusicIsLife]

So my ex was telling me today that when she finishes university she intends to join the UN and "Make a big difference in the world" honourable goal, and I told her "good for you".

When i went to work later that day I mentioned it to a few of my coworkers [most of which are doing double majors in everything from women's studies to poli sci to history...you get the idea] and they sort of freaked out on me, telling me how the Un is a Corporation, it's poisoned, etc etc.

I don't know what to believe because I never really looked into it. What do you guys think?

ps. sorry if this is in the wrong section, I wasnt sure where else to put it!

[RaeofLite]

I think everything that attempts to "help" deal with global issues such as poverty, climate change, peace etc, can become corrupted. Humans basically all have the ability to be corrupt, even if they are decent in other aspects of their lives. ..While I do support the idea of the UN, it doesn't seem to work with issues such as the war in the Middle East because of such differing ideologies, religion, politics, differences in economy and... greed.

So... there's good and bad in everything in my opinion. I'll be happy if I can make at least one difference in the lives of one or two people in my profession.

[mmilam75]

The problem with the UN is that they are controlled by folks who engage in blatantly anti-semitic behavior, words, actions, etc. Now, part of this is uncontrollable - because the UN has to balance numerous competing interests, they have to tolerate what we would consider intolerable. The best way to have an impact at the UN, I think, is to push for internal reform....but this is a good first step nonetheless.

[djt820]

The UN is just attempting to globalize the world into one government. Just a bunch of self interest. Your friend, I doubt, will make much of a difference sadly.

[Lychee]

The UN is undermined by state sovereignty, and therefore is not particularly effective. However the UN has done some good in the past, sending peace keeping missions like Operation Helpem Fren to the Solomon Islands, etc. Not a huge fan of the whole 5 permanent members thing on the UNSC, but hey, nothing's perfect.
I think that the UN is the best hope we've got, due to it being based on the principles of internationalism, and internationalism is something that I strongly believe in.

[Just Adam]

the un is a joke...

really all the countrys get together and instead of making things better just quibble and bitch... like at moment the un will say to iran behave or north korea stop the nukes or we will send you a leetter then we wont sell you our shit...but china will still do buisness with you ...oh and the usa >.> thanks guys...

the un has no power its just some shit assed countrys ganging up to ytry and look tough saying play nice ir we wont play with you but the bigger countrys who want to grow more and want money and stuff go yeaaa, we dont care we will do buisness... so the UN is left what can we dfo umm umm send a person there to bitch or people with blue helmets....

the Un is even more worthless now with the formation of the EU super power as we have 5 big players america europe china japan/south korea

so most of the UN is allready gone into them groups anyway only ones left worth seeing is russia sat on its own :S the rest are small fry that will most likelly try to join the EU to join the new gang...

so to sumarise a useless load of crap with no point at all anymore.

[partietraumatic]

the UN is a noble idea

Sadly like many noble ideas it lost its way soon after its creation.

As has been said above it has little to no power anymore,as it is less important than the USA,the EU,China,India,Russia,Japan,and probably soon Brazil also.

[Shevanel]

Well it worked better than the League of Nations. (Although that probably would've worked better had America joined like Woodrow Wilson intended)

[olides84]

I think the UN is a great organization. It has some really worthwhile components and many of the people who work there are amazingly committed to improving the world through their programs. MUCH more committed than your typical government bureaucrat or worker.

I think people are only focusing on the security council and wars and conflict and shit like that. That's only a small part of the UN. There's other agencies that really do a lot of good work on social issues like UNESCO, the World Food Program, UNICEF, the High Commission on Refugees, the World Bank, etc.

[Lychee]

Originally Posted by olides84

I think the UN is a great organization. It has some really worthwhile components and many of the people who work there are amazingly committed to improving the world through their programs. MUCH more committed than your typical government bureaucrat or worker.

I think people are only focusing on the security council and wars and conflict and shit like that. That's only a small part of the UN. There's other agencies that really do a lot of good work on social issues like UNESCO, the World Food Program, UNICEF, the High Commission on Refugees, the World Bank, etc.

While I would debate about how much good actually comes from the World Bank, I agree with the other organisations.
The UN is so much more than just an organisation dealing with wars and international conflicts.

[Ander Blue]

I agree with olides84 on this one, there is a lot more to the UN than what people have mentioned above. Sure the UN isn't very good at getting much done (mainly because they have no legitimate political sway anywhere, nor do they have the means to put in motion any of their decisions themselves). However, one thing that the UN does exceptionally well is addressing problems that exist in the world, and making them publicly known so that nations with the power to make a difference can in fact do so. The UN is the major player responsible for setting up all the foundation for the environmental revolution the world is trying to address right now. Also, whenever there are human rights being violated anywhere in the world, the UN is generally one of the first political institutions to address it.

PS: on the world bank.... it's a sad story. Poor countries get screwed over by all it's regulations whenever they try to take out a loan, however if it wasn't for that loan, the IMF probably wouldn't see their money back and the poor country would probably still get screwed over in the end anyways by industrialized nations who are always perched like hawks waiting to dive in for the kill.... There's a really good film called "Life and Debt" that gives the point of view of Jamaica when it was dealing with the IMF to deal with some of its money problems. Another really good film is "Grameen Bank". though it's a bit unrelated, it still tells an excellent story of how things can be improved by just going about things in a new way.

[AeonToy]

Originally Posted by Pauline

While I would debate about how much good actually comes from the World Bank, I agree with the other organisations.
The UN is so much more than just an organisation dealing with wars and international conflicts.

LOL as I was reading through the thread, this is exactly what I was thinking, from both of you guys.

My professor absolutely loathes the World Bank. But all in all, it just seems like we expect such idealistic perfection from every giant group. Even groups like Amnesty International etc. can only do so much.

Politically, the UN may seem ineffective and slow, but at least there is some progress. I feel that it is generally accepted that improvement and good only can happen when the idealistic people can figure out a way that both the giver and the receiver benefit equally e.g. working out some kind of general trade something or another. People talk of internal improvement, but how can you enforce the United States or Russia or China to do anything at all? The only other options than what they have set up is going to all out war.

Another side note, there are also many small groups that are largely unheard-of that are working to improve the quality of life for the billions of people in poverty and sub-standard living conditions.

[lostinthought9]

It depends on how you look at it. I think the the intended idea/concept of the UN is great, however they are at times very ineffective and slow when it comes to resolving worldly affairs.

The Security Council needs some serious reform.

[Brandford]

Wow until reading these posts I didn't think there was anything wrong with the UN, No one ever really discusses the UN, though I was aware the UN does absolutely nothing. I just thought it was like a kind of ornament, something for show but I still have no idea what they talk about there. I'd forgotten it exists for a little while before now.

[Bryan90]

It is humans that give life to an organisation. The work of an organisation is entirely dependent on the humans that run it.

UN has the role as the largest inter-governmental organisation. If influenced by the right people, it can definite create great changes in this world.

Your ex seems to have a good ambition there - "change the world". It doesn't matter what people feel UN is today or even what UN is in fact today, but it is people with ambition and goals that shape UN itself.

[Emberstone]

just adam... I dont think there being no UN would mean no quibbling and bitching between countries.

the UN is a forum.

[Phoenix]

The UN is really good at humanitarian efforts. The UN is really really bad at peacekeeping. To be honest, I don't see why it's there. Every country is just going to do what's in its own interest anyway.

[mmilam75]

The thing that more people need to understand is that the UN was never intended as a group that would have the political autonomy to be able to solve problems on their own. Much like NATO, it would be a forum for increasing political cooperation between countries so that international agreements could end in getting things done. That is it's real value, but it's been hijacked by folks who won't even condemn things that are blatantly immoral. When the Iranians cracked down on the pro-democracy demonstrators in Tehran, the Secretary-General didn't say anything because of fears on his staff about offending Islamic member states. The lack of willingness to speak with moral clarity is a very basic problem that needs to be corrected if the UN is to have any relevance in the 21st century.

[littledinosaurs]

The UN was a great idea that ended up being pretty useless. I wish they actually had the power to do real things, but they don't.

Not to mention Rwanda was probably the biggest UN fail ever. :/

[Shevanel]

Mhm about the Rwanda thing ^