The UN is almost bankrupt and a lame duck outfit. Does the world need the UN?
The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945 at San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organisation, and came into force on 24 October 1945.
In 1965, the membership of the Security Council increased from 11 members to 15. The Permanent Five, USA, UK, USSR, France and China were not touched.
The preamble of the Charter is the only genuinely inspiring part of the Charter. Let me quote: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind and to reaffirm faith in fundamental rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and for these ends to practice tolerance and live in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain internal peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in common interest, and to employ, international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.
“Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an International organisation to be known as the United Nations.”
Equality of nations was excluded. The Permanent Five were given the power of the veto. Any one of them could block any resolution or proposal of the General Assembly of any member state or a group of member states.
Cordell Hull, Secretary of State of the US government made it abundantly clear that “The veto provision was an absolute condition for the USA’s participation in the UN. The superpowers would not be subject to any collective coercion.” The veto ensured that the General Assembly or the Security Council could not act against any of the Permanent Members.
The Mexican Delegate at San Francisco said, “That under the UN Charter the mice would be disciplined, but the lions would be free.” In other words the vital interests of the P5 would not be subject to UN jurisdiction.
For 15 years the UN remained a white man’s club. Ghana was the first black nation to become a member in 1957.
The Seventy-Fifth session of the UN General Assembly opened a few days back. On account of the Covid menace, Heads of States are not participating in the 75th session. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his three-minute speech on TV (the time limit set by the UN for Heads) spoke, if I am not mistaken, of strengthening of the UN. He did not suggest how this was to be achieved.
I was, for nearly five years, a member of the Permanent Mission of India to the UN. I served under three ambassadors, C.S. Jha, ICS 1933, B.N. Chakravarty, ICS, 1929 and G. Parthasarthi. The Secretaries General who served the UN during my time were Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden—he was killed in an air crash in September 1961 in Nodola in Northern Rhodesia (present day Zambia)—U. Thant of Burma and Kurt Waldheim of Austria. The present Secretary General, Antonio Guterres was Portugal Prime Minister.
The UN is almost bankrupt and a lame duck outfit. Does the world need the UN? With some hesitation I say, yes.
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Alan Nazareth joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1959. His was a large batch, nearly a dozen, if I am not mistaken.
In those days Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to meet the new entrants. I took Alan’s batch to meet the Prime Minister. Half way through, Foreign Secretary Subimal Dutt came and whispered into the Prime Minister’s ear. Immediately he got up to leave, “I have to leave for Parliament.” Later we learnt that the Dalai Lama had arrived in India after escaping from Tibet.
Alan Nazareth’s autobiography, A Ring Side Seat to History, makes absorbing, lively and compelling reading. He had an exceptionally successful career. After retirement he became a Gandhian. His book, Gandhi’s Outstanding Leadership, won praises even from President Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama and Mikhail Gorbachev, whose foreword makes gripping reading.
This book will attract a wide readership.