Problems and the role of the UN in resolving the conflict. The role of the United Nations in resolving international conflicts

Comparison of what is proclaimed in the UN Charter with what has been implemented in practice, high and noble aspirations with real methods and methods of their implementation, as well as the results and consequences of many UN actions cannot but cause mixed feelings. The general indicator of the effectiveness of the UN for 55 years is as follows: at the end of the twentieth century. More than 1.5 billion people lived on less than $1 a day. More than 1 billion adults, mostly women, could not read or write; 830 million people suffered from malnutrition; 750 million people lacked access to adequate housing or health care.

The United Nations has certainly played a significant role in history and will leave a brighter mark on it than its predecessor, the League of Nations. Figuratively speaking, the UN played the role of a kind of international constitutional assembly to harmonize rules of law that have become common not only to individuals, but also to entire states. And a lot has been done in this capacity.

An undoubted achievement is the very unification of all peoples and states of the planet under the common banner of ensuring international peace and security. An unconditional achievement is also the recognition of the principle sovereign equality of all states and a universal obligation not to interfere in each other's internal affairs. Thanks to the world organization, the share and role of secret diplomacy has been significantly reduced, the world has become more open, and humanity has become more informed about what is happening in it. The annual sessions of the General Assembly, which brings together the leading figures of almost all states of the world, give each state the opportunity to address the international community with its problems and concerns, and the inhabitants of the planet to learn in a timely manner what is primarily troubling humanity as a whole.

At active participation The UN has developed and adopted important international legal acts, in a certain sense, determined the course of world politics in the second half of the twentieth century. Suffice it to note that the first resolution adopted by the General Assembly on January 24, 1946 dealt with the problems of the peaceful use of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other types of weapons of mass destruction.

Continuing the traditions of the League of Nations, the UN organized the work of its permanent body - the international Conferences on Disarmament in Geneva. It discussed the main ideas of treaties banning nuclear weapons tests: first in the atmosphere, underground and under water (signed in 1963), and then over the seas and oceans (1971). The main ideas of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, according to which nuclear powers pledged not to provide nuclear weapons to other countries, and states that did not yet possess such weapons - not to develop or produce them. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 10 and has been open for signature since September 24, 1996, i.e. more than half a century after the adoption of the first UN General Assembly resolution on the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction. In 1972, an agreement was signed banning the development, production and storage of bacteriological weapons, and another 20 years later (in 1992) a similar document was signed in relation to chemical weapons. In 1990, it was possible to achieve the conclusion of an agreement on the reduction of conventional armed forces in Europe.

Humanity has long been using the riches of the seas and oceans, but so far only a small fraction of what they can give to people. Land, rivers and lakes are already divided between peoples and states, belonging to those who live in the corresponding territories. Huge riches are found at the bottom of international seas and oceans. How to use them and on the basis of what right?

In 1958, UN member states signed the Convention on the Continental Shelf, according to which the shelf of an internationally agreed width is divided among all coastal states. In 1982, an international convention on maritime law. In connection with the start of development outer space the question arose about the ownership of space objects and their natural resources. After lengthy discussions, an agreement was signed in 1979 on the activities of states on the Moon and other celestial bodies. These agreements and the Convention on the Continental Shelf declared space, the deep seabed and its mineral resources common heritage of humanity.

According to these international agreements, it was established that:

1) the sphere of the common heritage of mankind is not subject to any appropriation by states, individuals and legal entities;

2) when using the resources of the common heritage of humanity, the interests of the entire international community must be taken into account;

3) States are obliged to ensure that the activities of their organizations and individuals in areas of the common heritage of humanity are carried out in strict accordance with international rules;

4) when developing resources in these areas, the necessary measures must be taken to protect the environment.

To others important field The activities of the UN is its assistance in the process of eliminating colonial dependence and gaining the peoples of Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans state independence. The UN General Assembly adopted in 1960 played an extremely important role in this process. Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples". In accordance with it, more than 60 former colonies received state independence and became members of the UN. By the 50th anniversary of the UN (in 1995), there were still 17 self-governing territories in the world. The anniversary session of the General Assembly declared the year 2000 to be the year of the end of colonialism. The UN has also made a certain positive contribution to the process of resolving political and ethnic conflicts in individual countries.

The role of the UN is especially significant in the development of the international code of human rights. The inalienability and inalienability of human rights is already stated in the UN Charter itself. It also says about the UN mission, which is the need to “... carry out international cooperation in resolving international problems economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character and in the promotion and development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.”. Of lasting importance are Universal Declaration of Human Rights and adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and entered into force in 1976 “ Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights" And " Covenant on Civil and Political Rights". The states that signed them pledged to create all necessary conditions for the implementation of human rights and freedoms proclaimed here. In development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international covenants on human rights, the UN has adopted many dozens of declarations and conventions on the rights and freedoms of various segments and groups of the population. The achievements of the UN include the activities discussed above specialized institutions UN (UNESCO, WHO, ILO, etc.)

Best of luck The UN made progress in those areas of activity where the rivalry of the world's leading powers was weaker. Although it cannot be denied that it was the leading powers of the world who made the most significant contribution to this success. Oddly enough, it was precisely the rivalry between the USA and the USSR and the systems they personified public relations played a good service for humanity and significantly advanced it along the path of progress. Thus, over the 85 years of the 20th century, despite two destructive world wars, global production of goods and services increased more than 50 times. 80% of this colossal growth occurred during the period of the most acute confrontation between the two systems - from 1950 to 1985. During this period, the rate of economic growth in the world was the highest in the history of mankind - about 5% annually. Of course, such development became possible thanks to many factors, including the scientific and technological revolution. In conditions of intense rivalry among themselves, states sought to use them to their maximum benefit. All this taken together made it possible to achieve the highest rates of economic growth and the longest cycle of crisis-free development in the world. The merits of the UN and its specialized agencies in these successes are significant. In the 1990s, following the collapse of the USSR, “the ideological conflicts and divisions of a bipolar world gave way to ethnic and religious intolerance, political ambition and greed, often exacerbated by the illegal trade in arms, jewelry and drugs.” The rate of economic growth has also decreased significantly.

The most significant role in the system of international relations in modern stage played by the United Nations (UN). It became practically the first mechanism in history for broad, multifaceted interaction between different states in order to maintain peace and security and promote the economic and social progress of all peoples.

The most important goals of the United Nations are to stop the proliferation of weapons and to reduce and ultimately eliminate all stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations serves as a permanent forum for negotiations on disarmament, making recommendations and initiating research in this area. It supports multilateral negotiations taking place within the Conference on Disarmament and other international bodies. As a result of these negotiations, the following were concluded international agreements, such as - the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968), - the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1996) - treaties on the creation of nuclear weapon-free zones.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, through a system of safeguards agreements, is responsible for ensuring that nuclear materials and equipment intended for peaceful purposes are not used for military purposes.

The fundamentals of the UN’s activities and its structure were developed during the Second World War by leading participants Anti-Hitler coalition.

The UN Charter was approved at the San Francisco Conference held from April to June 1945. According to it, “admission to membership of the Organization is open to all peace-loving states that accept the obligations contained in the Charter of the United Nations and which, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to fulfill these obligations.” The admission of states to membership of the United Nations is carried out by decision of the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.

The UN General Assembly is considering the principles of cooperation in the field of ensuring international peace and security; elects non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and members of the Economic and Social Council; on the recommendation of the Security Council, appoints the UN Secretary-General; jointly with the Security Council, elects members of the International Court of Justice; coordinates international cooperation in the economic, social, cultural and humanitarian spheres; exercises other powers provided for in the UN Charter. The General Assembly has a sessional order of work. It may hold regular, special and emergency special sessions. The annual regular session of the Assembly opens on the third Tuesday in September.

Special sessions of the UN General Assembly may be convened on any issue at the request of the Security Council or at the request of a majority of UN members within 15 days from the date of receipt of such a request by the UN Secretary-General.

Emergency special sessions may be convened at the request of the UN Security Council or a majority of UN member states within 24 hours of receipt of such a request by the UN Secretary-General.

The UN Economic and Social Council is established by the Charter of the United Nations as the main body responsible for coordinating the economic, social and other related activities of the UN, as well as specialized agencies and organizations. Consists of 5 regional commissions for Europe, Africa, etc.

The seat of the International Court of Justice, established by the Charter of the United Nations as the principal judicial authority United Nations, is The Hague, Netherlands. International Court of Justice is a forum for the peaceful settlement of legal disputes between states. The Court also prepares advisory opinions for the UN and its specialized agencies.

The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security; All members of the UN are obliged to obey its decisions.

The Security Council consists of 15 members: five members of the Council are permanent (Russia, USA, Great Britain, France and China, with veto power), the remaining ten members (in the terminology of the Charter - “non-permanent”) are elected to the Council in accordance with the procedure provided for Charter.

Each of the above structural divisions The UN has subsidiary bodies on various specialized issues (educational and research institutes, agencies, committees, commissions, working groups, tribunals, specialized agencies).

Within the framework of the UN, a number of organizations have emerged that have organically entered the system of international relations both as UN structures and as independent organizations. These include:

WHO ( World Organization Healthcare);

ILO ( International Association Labor);

IMF (International Monetary Fund);

UNESCO (Cultural and Scientific Organization);

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Organization);

UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development);

International Court of Justice.

UN reform. Since 2006 (after the 2005 World Summit), a number of reports on UN reform have been presented. The main problems of UN reform are:

1. Lack of representation in relation to developing countries.

2. The privileged position of permanent members of the UN Security Council.

3. The need to resolve the financial problems of the Organization with the only solution - providing the economically rich developed countries status of permanent or “semi-permanent” members of the Security Council.

Reform of the Security Council is one of the key and hotly debated areas of UN reform. For quite a long time, negotiations on this point could not get off the ground, but with the advent of the “twenty”, which is increasingly successfully winning back “ big eight» zones of influence, supporters of diplomatic innovations got a second wind.

The question also arises about the radicalness of reforming the Security Council. Most of the existing proposals for reforming the Security Council can be reduced to two groups.

First, various ideas to improve the effectiveness of the Council.

Supporters of radical reform of the Security Council believe that he usurped power in the UN, appropriated it to himself, a council of limited composition, controlled by its five permanent members who have the right of veto. As a result, the so-called “small countries” that do not have such a right cannot trust the Security Council.

One of the weighty arguments is the lack of application of the sanctions provisions of Article VII of the UN Charter to the United States and Great Britain after the events in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia. In this regard, supporters of radical reform of the Security Council demand the transfer of powers of the Security Council to the General Assembly, which will ensure a more democratic decision-making process: the application of the provisions of Chapter VII of the UN Charter should become the prerogative of the General Assembly, it should have the right to adopt binding resolutions, the Security Council should become an instrument for implementation of General Assembly resolutions. In this case, the UN General Assembly, performing the functions of the world parliament, will remain the main legislative body and the Security Council will not be able to dictate its terms, remaining one of the executive bodies.

Secondly, proposals to change the composition of the Security Council.

In this case, the interests and influence of various countries and regions should be taken into account.

Countries of the “South”: they lack the material resources to support the functioning of the UN and the ability to influence the Security Council, so developing countries rely on limiting the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council. These countries are demanding greater participation in the UN decision-making process, expanding the number of permanent members to 11 countries based on the principle of equal geographical representation, and the Security Council should consist of 26 countries in total.

Countries of regional importance such as Italy, Spain, Turkey, Malaysia and some Scandinavian and Latin American countries want to formalize their status by lifting the ban on membership in the Security Council.

Highly developed countries (Germany, Japan), as well as representatives of all three regional groups of the developing world (India, Pakistan, Indonesia in Asia; Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa in Africa; Brazil Argentina in Latin America) claim to be permanent members of the Security Council.

Finally, the five current permanent members of the Council are united in their desire to maintain their current status, including the right of veto.

The United States has always actively advocated UN reform to increase the number of its allies in the organization. Back in the 70s, Washington put forward the idea of ​​“quickfix” - the inclusion of Germany and Japan in the Security Council as permanent members. This would increase the number of American allies in the Security Council and at the same time reduce the size of US contributions to the UN budget, non-payment of which has become the main financial problem of the Organization. In the 1990s, under pressure from developing countries, Washington changed the “quickfix” to the “2+3” formula (Germany, Japan, plus one country from each region of the developing world). In 2000, the Bill Clinton administration agreed to expand the Security Council to more than 23 members.

Russia's position is ambiguous. Initially, based on the commitments given to Japan and Germany by Yeltsin, only these two candidates were supported. Subsequently, Russia's position was that the Security Council should include both industrialized and developing countries. The number of members of the expanded Security Council, according to Russia, should not exceed 20-21.

In the future, UN reform should concern:

1. freeing him from the political situation and bureaucratic fetters,

2. a sharp increase in the speed of response to crises and conflicts,

3. transferring the main organizational work, primarily the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, from New York “to the field.”

An example of a balanced decision within the framework of UN reform is the fate of the Commission on Human Rights: having lost confidence, it was disbanded. The commission was overly politicized and used by states to selectively criticize each other rather than solve real problems. The commission was replaced by the Human Rights Council, whose 47 members are elected by the UN General Assembly. The General Assembly is authorized, by a vote of two-thirds of its members, to suspend the rights and privileges of a member of the Council if he has persistently committed gross and systematic violations of human rights.

On September 8, 2000, the General Assembly adopted a landmark document - the UN Millennium Declaration. In it, states noted the values ​​and principles that should be fundamental in the 21st century. In particular, the declaration set the vector for further transformation of the UN system and activities.

Since ancient times, to resolve conflicts, a third party has been involved, who intervened between the conflicting parties in order to find a peaceful solution. Usually the most respected people in society acted as the third party. IN medieval Europe, before they were formed nation states, the Pope played the most important role as a third party in resolving conflicts. Acting more as a judge than as a mediator, he decided how the dispute should end. However, later the role of the Pope in resolving conflicts decreased significantly.

From the moment of their formation to the present, national states have been very active and continue to act as a third party in resolving conflicts, since conflicts, especially armed ones, have always directly affected their interests. However, the world has become more complex, therefore, along with states, third parties in it can and often are groups of states united to resolve a specific conflict; international universal and regional organizations; church; informal (non-governmental) institutions and organizations, and in some cases - individuals making efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict. Moreover, it should be noted that the role of other, non-governmental, participants in conflict resolution in modern world increases.

One of such mediators at the present stage is the United Nations. Back in 1945, the UN Charter intended the future organization high role in maintaining international peace and security. Initially, it was to consider threats to peace, acts of aggression, disputes and conflicts between states. The Security Council, relying on the consensus and military power of its five permanent members, was supposed to carry out peaceful resolution of disputes, eliminate, suppress threats to peace and acts of aggression or counter them with force. General principles international peace and security, including principles for guiding disarmament and arms control, were to be the subject of consideration by the General Assembly and recommendations to member states or the Security Council.

Over the 55 years of its existence, the UN has accumulated a lot of experience in resolving armed conflicts. However, in the 90s of the twentieth century, the nature of armed conflicts changed. The vast majority of clashes currently are internal. The resolution of an intrastate conflict collides with the sovereignty of individual states, which often do not want outside interference in their national politics. Therefore, already in the mid-90s, based on the experience of conflict resolution, the development of a strategy for the prevention of armed conflicts began.

But each conflict is unique in nature, so at this stage it is not yet possible to create a universal early warning system. However, the creation of such a system, which will have data on the socio-economic situation in various countries, is one of the most important areas of activity of UN research centers.

Identifying the very first signs of an armed conflict today is based on monitoring the situation directly at regional level. In this area, the UN relies on its representatives in various countries around the world, regional organizations, NGOs and civil society. In addition, according to Article 35 of the Charter of the United Nations, any Member of the United Nations or any interested non-Member State may bring to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly any dispute or situation which may give rise to international friction and give rise to a dispute .

But, unfortunately, according to some authors, the UN has shown itself to be poorly prepared to prevent conflicts. As Urquhart B. points out in his article, “to new organization United Nations" "everyone knew that Yugoslavia after Tito's death was not a stable state...", "most of the current conflicts were also known in advance. And yet, despite all the talk about the desirability of preventive action, no preventive efforts were made.” As the author points out, the actions taken by the UN were reactive and motivated by criticism from the media and the public, they were also slow and inadequate. And this does not fit into the UN concept of conflict prevention at all.

If the conflict moves to the next stage of armed conflict, then the UN carries out various operations to maintain and restore peace, for example, introducing peacekeeping forces. The assistance of the UN armed forces ("blue helmets") is often resorted to in the event of an armed conflict. They are multinational formations, the creation of which on the basis of a decision of the Security Council is provided for by the UN Charter. The idea of ​​using armed forces under the auspices of the UN was put forward during the settlement of the Suez crisis in 1956 by the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs L. Piersen (for which he received Nobel Prize peace) and supported by the then general secretary UN D. Hammarskjöld. Subsequently, UN troops participated in peacekeeping operations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central America. Thus, in 1973, UN troops were quickly deployed in the Middle East, which helped reduce tensions caused by the advance of Israeli troops deeper into Egyptian territory. The UN armed forces also performed peacekeeping functions in Cyprus, Lebanon and many other “hot spots” on the planet. Peacekeeping forces can remain in a conflict zone for a long time, remaining there even after agreements are reached, as was the case, for example, in Cyprus, where their task was to prevent clashes between representatives of the Greek and Turkish communities. In Cyprus, they acted as a guarantor that a new round of armed confrontation would not begin.

The use of UN peacekeeping forces was preceded by the activities of military observers, which then became quite widely practiced. A group of UN military observers was present in India and Pakistan, in the Middle East. The task of military observers (and this is where they differ from “observers of the negotiations”) comes down mainly to monitoring the implementation of the truce, identifying facts of its violation and submitting reports to the UN Security Council.

Simultaneously with the introduction of peacekeeping forces, a buffer zone is often created in order to separate the armed forces of the warring parties. The introduction of free-fly zones is also practiced in order to prevent air strikes by one of the parties to the conflict. In particular, such zones were introduced in the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution No. 781 of October 9, 1992, and in March 1993, in development of this resolution, the Security Council adopted a new resolution. According to which, the use of all necessary measures in the event of further violation of airspace was authorized.

In some conflicts, the military is tasked with additional features, including the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians (this function was actively implemented, in particular, in the Bosnian conflict), ensuring the holding of free elections (as, for example, in Namibia).

However, along with the positive aspects, the use of armed units has a number of limitations and negative aspects.

First of all, peacekeeping troops cannot always be brought in. The states into whose territory they are introduced must give consent to their deployment. Countries may refuse to accept peacekeeping troops, considering the deployment of the latter as interference in their internal affairs. The problem of the neutrality of armed formations is quite acute: the extent to which they are perceived by the warring parties as neutral, and not supporting one or another side in the conflict. They are often attacked by both sides, who accuse them of partiality and bias.

The problem of neutrality can be partially solved by the simultaneous introduction of various troops (collective peacekeeping forces). Such actions make it possible to increase the “degree of objectivity” to some extent, although they do not completely eliminate the problem: and with the simultaneous introduction different countries peacekeeping troops, they may be accused of bias. In addition, when introducing collective peacekeeping forces, another problem often arises - a discrepancy in the assessment of the situation among various subjects of the peacekeeping process. In this case, the effectiveness of their actions is called into question. In addition, there is a danger of conflict between those countries whose troops were brought in.

Another way that makes it possible to slightly increase the level of perception of the troops being introduced as neutral is to follow the UN principle, according to which a country located in a conflict-ridden region and directly or indirectly interested in one or another outcome usually does not participate in the settlement. For the same reason, the dominant power in the region should not have any advantages in carrying out peacekeeping actions. However, in practice this principle is difficult to implement. The argument here is usually a defense national security and ensuring the rights of its citizens located in the conflict zone.

And finally, the most big problem is that the introduction of peacekeeping forces does not replace a political settlement of the conflict. This act can only be considered temporary - for the period of searching for a peaceful solution.

Another common means of influence by a third party on parties to conflicts, which is restrictive and coercive in nature, is the imposition of sanctions. Sanctions are quite widely used in international practice. They are introduced by states on their own initiative or by decision of international organizations. The imposition of sanctions is provided for by the UN Charter in the event of a threat to peace, a violation of the peace or an act of aggression on the part of any state.

Unlike the introduction of peacekeeping forces, sanctions do not imply the consent of the person against whom they are imposed. There are different types sanctions. Trade sanctions cover the import and export of goods and technology, with particular emphasis on those that could be used for military purposes. Financial sanctions include prohibitions or restrictions on the provision of loans, credit, as well as investments. Political sanctions are also used, for example, expulsion of the aggressor from international organizations and severance of diplomatic relations with him.

As M.M. Lebedeva points out, the following considerations usually serve as arguments for applying sanctions to the warring parties:

• * “developing relations with a state that does not strive for a peaceful resolution of contradictions means political and economic support for the conflict;
• * many types of products, especially in the electronics industry, can be used by parties to the conflict for military purposes, which also to a greater extent will increase the conflict;
• * if foreign companies or foreign capital play a significant role in the economy of the conflicting countries, their withdrawal will weaken the regime of the authorities, and this may contribute to a change in its political course regarding the conflict.”

Along with the positive aspects, sanctions, like the introduction of armed forces by a third party, are fraught with many negative consequences. First of all, sanctions themselves do not solve the problem of political settlement of the conflict. Introduced to induce participants to end the conflict, sanctions lead to the isolation of these countries from the outside world. As a result, the ability to influence the conflict from the outside in order to find its resolution through peaceful means is limited.

Another problem is related to the fact that the introduction of sanctions damages not only the economy of the country against which they are imposed, but also the economy of the state imposing sanctions. This happens especially in cases where these countries had close economic and trade ties and relationships before the imposition of sanctions.

In connection with these and many other problems in the settlement international conflicts Urquhart in his article proposes various UN reform measures that should help the UN become a “substantial and effective instrument of world order.” These measures include:

• 1. it is necessary to create an effective early warning system based on economic, social, as well as political information,
• 2. create a special UN forum where leaders of ethnic and other oppressed groups could present their problems and receive recommendations on how to resolve them from experts,
• 3. it is necessary to position the Security Council in favor of preventive measures, which will require greater willingness on the part of governments to accept UN assistance,
• 4. it is necessary to reorganize the Security Council in order to make it more representative and thereby give it greater legitimacy,
• 5. it is necessary to develop the legal basis for UN operations with the prospect of developing it into a generally accepted international legal and constitutional system with appropriate monitoring and, if necessary, an enforcement mechanism,
• 6. it is necessary to create conditions under which, under the influence public opinion and international organizations, governments of all countries would make efforts to solve problems related to arms control,
• 7. It is necessary to create a permanent, well-trained and morally prepared rapid reaction group, independent of the consent of governments to provide troops.

Urquhart also proposes some other reform measures. But, despite all the listed shortcomings of the UN in the field of conflict resolution, its role as a guarantor of peace and security in resolving international conflicts is very great. And it is this organization that carries out various complex operations related to establishing and maintaining peace and provides various humanitarian aid.

international political globalization

The role of the UN in solving regional problems

The United Nations not only occupies a central place in the system of interstate organizations, but also plays an exceptional role in modern international political development. Created in 1945 as a universal international organization, which aims to maintain peace and international security and develop cooperation between states, the UN currently unites 185 countries of the world.

The impact of the UN on modern international relations weighty and multifaceted. It is determined by the following main factors:

The UN is the most representative forum for discussions between states on current problems international development.

The UN Charter is the foundation of modern international law, a kind of generally recognized code of conduct for states and their relationships; others compare it international treaties and agreements.

The UN itself has become an important mechanism for international rule-making and occupies a completely special place among other organizations - sources of international law. Hundreds of agreements have been concluded at the initiative and within the framework of the UN international conventions and treaties regulating the state of affairs in a wide variety of spheres of public life.

The principles of building the UN (primarily in granting a special status to permanent members of the Security Council) reflected the objective realities of the international political system, and their change became the main incentive for the ongoing work to reform this organization.

Under the shadow of the UN exists large number intergovernmental organizations that regulate international life within the framework of their functional purpose.

The UN is endowed with extremely important competence to resolve issues of war and peace, including through the use of armed force.

In the era of bipolar confrontation in the international arena, the effectiveness of the UN's activities was often low. The political, military and ideological confrontation between the two superpowers and their allies often had a paralyzing effect on the activities of the main structures and institutions of the UN. With the end of the Cold War, a powerful impulse arose to revitalize the UN and transform it into an effective mechanism for organizing international life.

UN peacekeeping efforts have acquired particular significance. While in the first four decades of its existence the UN carried out 14 different missions and operations sending observers, mediators or military personnel to conflict areas, since 1988 33 peacekeeping actions have been initiated. The peak of activity in this area occurred in 1995, when total number involved in peacekeeping activities The UN personnel amounted to almost 70 thousand people (including 31 thousand military personnel) from more than 70 countries. Preventive diplomacy (fact-finding missions, efforts to reconcile the parties, mediation, etc.), organization of truce monitoring, humanitarian operations (providing assistance to refugees and other victims of conflicts), and assistance in post-conflict rehabilitation have received significant development through the UN. In one form or another, the UN was involved in efforts to resolve most of the “hot spots” of the current decade - in Somalia, Mozambique, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Central America, Haiti, former Yugoslavia, in the Near and Middle East, Rwanda, Western Sahara, Tajikistan, Georgia. At the same time, the Security Council also used instruments such as sanctions (economic, political, diplomatic, financial and other coercive measures not related to the use of armed forces) and forced disarmament (in relation to Iraq).

However, the end of the Cold War not only opened up new opportunities for the UN, but also brought into sharp relief its inherent shortcomings that had previously been in the background. On the one side, we're talking about about the costs of the existence of the huge bureaucratic apparatus of the UN, its slowness and ineffectiveness of the decision-making process, the overload of the organization with numerous structures and their parallelism. On the other hand, the question is raised about the UN’s adaptation to the serious changes in the international political landscape that have occurred over more than five decades of its existence. Finally, many conceptual issues of the UN’s activities remain unclear (what should be its system of priorities, under what conditions its functions can be delegated regional organizations or coalitions of states, what are the conditions and limits of UN intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states, how to achieve an optimal combination of democracy and efficiency in the functioning of the UN, how to combine the principle of its universality with the special status of permanent members of the Security Council, etc.).

In the wide-ranging discussion about UN reform, deep differences have emerged between the participants of this organization on the issues of the priority of reforms, the degree of their radicality and the very content of the changes. In the most general terms, several main topics related to the problem under discussion can be identified:

ensuring greater effectiveness of the UN when addressing international security issues and improving peacekeeping and crisis management tools,

expanding opportunities for UN involvement in the internal affairs of states in connection with political instability, human rights violations, environmental or humanitarian disasters;

increasing the role of the UN in “non-traditional” areas (ecology, migration, regulation of information flows, etc.);

changing the procedure for financing the activities of the UN and the principles of using its financial resources;

modifying the role of the General Assembly to enhance its ability to make effective decisions;

a clearer definition of the status of the UN Secretary-General and a radical restructuring of the work of the UN Secretariat;

clarifying the functions and roles of UN specialized agencies, coordinating their activities, expanding the powers of the International Court of Justice;

increasing the efficiency of the Security Council and changing its composition.

The last of the topics noted above became the subject special attention in discussions about UN reform. There is more or less broad agreement on the need to increase the number of members of the Security Council and make its composition more representative. The question of categories of membership in the Security Council is much more complex. The most obvious candidates for inclusion as permanent members are Germany and Japan, but claims for similar status from a number of developing countries are inevitable. countries - India, Brazil or Mexico. In addition, expanding the circle of countries with veto power could paralyze the work of the Security Council. At the same time, the question of the right of veto itself is one of the central ones. Although the abolition of this institution (for reasons of overcoming the inequality of member countries) is practically unrealistic, making certain adjustments to it seems quite possible.

In general, the prerequisites for a radical transformation of the UN currently do not seem very significant, both due to the diverging views of member states (and the reluctance of many of them to make too drastic changes), and due to the lack of necessary financial resources (which is why today we have to agree to a certain curtailment of peacekeeping activities). However, evolutionary adaptation of the organization to changing conditions is urgently necessary. The expansion of the UN’s capabilities in terms of its influence on international life and the effective performance of the function of the most important will depend on this multilateral mechanism pe regulation of international relations.

This problem has become especially relevant due to the emergence of a dangerous trend of using military force against sovereign states, bypassing the UN. NATO's military actions against Yugoslavia, launched in March 1999 without the sanction of the Security Council, clearly indicated the possibility of erosion of the role of the UN as a central element of the modern international political system.

References

To prepare this work, materials from the site were used http://referat.ru/

The International Organization of the United Nations, known in the world as the UN, was created during the Second World War with the aim of strengthening peace and security between states, as well as developing their cooperation.

UN structure

To ensure its activities, the UN has a strict structure. Each body in the structure of the organization is responsible for a certain aspect of international relations:

1. The Security Council is responsible for maintaining peace between countries and ensuring their security. All member countries of the UN are forced to obey the resolutions of the Security Council, although it consists of only 15 representatives.
2. The Secretariat has more than 40 thousand employees. In essence, they are all international personnel who ensure the work of the UN around the world.
3. The Secretary General heads the secretariat and is elected from among representatives of countries not members of the Security Council.
4. The International Court of Justice is the UN body that carries out the judicial and legal activities of the organization.
5. The Economic and Social Council helps realize economic and social cooperation between countries respectively.
6. The specialized agencies are approved by one of the above bodies in order to better fulfill their international responsibilities. The most famous among such organizations were World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO.

UN and conflict resolution

Activities to promote the preservation of peace and security between countries are carried out primarily in the resolution of international conflicts. UN organizes peacekeeping operations all over the world. At the same time, investigations are carried out into the causes of conflicts, negotiations are conducted, and if armistice agreements are signed, their compliance by all parties to the conflict is monitored.

If necessary, the UN provides humanitarian assistance to victims of international conflicts or natural disasters. It consists not only of the provision of medicine, food and basic necessities, but also of the rescue activities of the UN.