The United Nations An Achievement Of Modern — страница 3

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Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom, creating an alliance against the growing threat of Soviet and consequently a communist power. Since the organization’s creation, new members include Greece and Turkey [in 1952], the former West Germany (in 1955), Spain [in 1982], and on March 12, 1999, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined. However, since the end of the Cold War, NATO’s role has been reduced to that of a peacekeeper, and of an economic and political alliance (London Free Press, C8,). In 1995, “The UN gave NATO the mandate to implement the military part of the 1995 peace accord in Bosnia. However, on March 24, 1999, NATO powers have stepped beyond the mandate for military control and initiated an offensive air strike against Yugoslav President,

Slobodan Milosevic. Bypassing the protocol UN security force, NATO countries have attempted to combat allegations of ethnic cleansing in the region of Kosovo. The preamble to the North Atlantic Treaty states that: The parties to this treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and governments. They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rite of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area. They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security (London Free Press, C8,

04-12-99). Yet, there are discrepancies in both the actions and implied and stated aims to this charter beginning with the vow to follow the charter of the United Nations. The United Nations, though: Has various means it can use to help resolve conflicts: Member States may bring a conflict to the attention of the Security Council. The Security Council can then call upon countries in conflict to settle their differences peacefully. If countries in conflict can’t come to an agreement on their own, they can take the dispute to the international Court of Justice which will decide who is right and who is wrong. The Security Council may ask United Nations members to stop trading with the country or countries and to cut all forms of communication including by sea, air, rail, post,

telephone, radio, etc. Members may be asked to close Embassies in the country or countries concerned. If all this fails, or is felt to be impractical, the Security Council may dispatch neutral UN peace-keepers to patrol safety or demilitarise zones, or to enforce or monitor cease-fire agreements until a permanent agreement is reached. However, peace-keepers can only be sent if all countries in conflict agree to their presence. In some cases, the Security Council may authorize Member States to intervene in a conflict by using a regular military force. Forces are contributed by Member States but are not under UN command…. Article 43 requires all Member States to make an agreed number of armed forces available to the Security Council for use in such cases. Peace keeping has gained

more importance in situations where preventative diplomacy or peace making fail…There are some important differences between UN peace-keeping forces and other armed forces: • UN peacekeepers cannot take sides in a conflict. • Countries in conflict must agree to the presence of peace-keepers. • UN peace-keepers are generally lightly armed and cannot use force unless attacked (Peace-keeping: An Overview, 1-2). Under ideal circumstances, these methods would maintain peace and at worst, prevent any conflict before it escalated beyond control. However, as demonstrated with the former Yugoslavia, social unrest grew to epic proportions following the death of dictator, General Josip Broz [Tito] in 1980. Under his rule, Albanians gained control over their own affairs for the first

time since the Balkans fell to the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 (Austin, CBC News Online, 2). Tito’s successor, Slobodan Milosevic, came to power in 1989 and “built his power on an appeal to Serb nationalism” (Austin, CBC News Online, 2). Following a civil war-like clash in 1995 among religious social groups, peace was restored within Yugoslavia. However, Albanians, generally a peaceful people, were excluded from autonomy movements states like the ones Macedonia and Croatia were experiencing. Kosovo, with a 90 per cent Albanian population, pushed for autonomy against the will of the Milosovic government. The result was ethnic cleansing with the hope to “annex Kosovo to neighbouring Albania” (Austin, CBC News Online, 2). Discrepancies with this NATO