United Nations 75 years of Multilateralism

Founded on the 10𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 1920, the 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬' primary purpose is to avoid another outbreak of world war and maintain international peace and security and international cooperation among nations. However, the organization still cannot avoid it. It all started in 𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟑 when 𝘈𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘳 rose to power and was appointed to be the Deutschland chancellor. On the 1𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 1939, under his leadership, the 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 launched an invasion of Poland, which was essential for Germany to dominate the 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵. This marks the start of the 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐫.

𝘞𝘢𝘳 broke out to the world again and caused 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 to small countries—Japan invading countries one after another in Asia, Italy allying with Germany and declaring war against Great Britain and France. Many have 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 to end this war, resulting in the 𝑨𝒙𝒊𝒔 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 of Germany, Italy, and Japan's loss. After the war, the League of Nations 𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 its operation as it failed its purpose in preventing another world war.

𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 (𝐔𝐍), founded on 24𝘵𝘩 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 1945, replaced the 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 and inherited some of the agencies and organizations that the former organization founded. The 𝐔𝐍 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 the League's primary purpose and added more — notably to develop the lives of the poor, overcome hunger, disease, literacy, respect each other's rights and freedom, and be a center for harmonizing the actions to achieve the UN's goals. (𝐒𝐄𝐄: History of the UN | United Nations Seventieth Anniversary)

The 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐫 happened and the UN was in turmoil. A political dispute between two '𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬', the 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 and the 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, was central to the Cold War. The 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 (𝑼𝑵𝑺𝑪) could not function because the mentioned states were permanent members who held 𝒗𝒆𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔.

The Cold War was not the only time when the world organization has not played any significant role, despite facing the most dangerous threats to world peace. The world organization also did not take any action during the 1962 𝑪𝒖𝒃𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒔 and was at a stalemate in the 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐧𝐚𝐦 𝐖𝐚𝐫.(𝐒𝐄𝐄:Constitutional Rights Foundation (crf-usa.org))

The 𝐔𝐍 also created new programs and agencies in aiding the economies of third-world countries. In talks of human rights, the world organization released a resolution condemning racist 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒅 policies of South Africa and called out the members to end their economic and military relations with the country. However, the 𝐔𝐍 disregarded 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 that took place in several African countries, which also targeted black people.

After the 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿, the United Nations learned its lesson and mobilized the UNSC to be decisive. When Iraq invaded Kuwait (𝐒𝐄𝐄: Iraq invades Kuwait - HISTORY), the Security Council firmly upheld its authority. The council passed dozens of resolutions against 𝑺𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒂𝒎 𝑯𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒊𝒏'𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆. They even released an 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮 to Iraq to withdraw their troops or confront the multinational military force authorized by the 𝐔𝐍.

The 𝑼𝑵 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 in Bosnia and Somalia was ineffective. In 1992, UN Peacekeepers were 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 in Bosnia, as the 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐬 could not stop the violence against civilians. They were only assigned to protect the civilian food convoys and themselves. While in Somalia, 24 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 were 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 in 1993, leading to their deaths. More incidents happened, including the death of 18 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔. This incident led the 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧, to withdraw their troops that hurt the peacekeeping mission of the UN.

After the dissolution of the𝐘𝐮𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 in 1992, the 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚 had turned into a hotbed of civil unrest caused by the 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 of the Muslims and border wars. The 𝐔𝐍 intervened and helped Kosovo to build its government, including legitimate authority and capacity.

Today, 24𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳, the 𝐔𝐍 comes to its 𝟕𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 of service to the world. The world organization commemorates its 75𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 with the theme, "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑾𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑵 𝑾𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒆𝒅: 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎." They laid out 12 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 to 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 —𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥. The world leaders also said that the commemoration is not to celebrate, as what is happening in the world is not what the founders envisioned 𝟕𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 (𝐒𝐄𝐄:High-level Meeting to Commemorate the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations | United Nations)

The world is plagued with 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 — and now, the 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 of the virus named 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃-𝟏𝟗. Countries suffer from 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴. People are suffering from 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

"𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚," is what 𝑼𝑵𝑮𝑨 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐳𝐤𝐢𝐫 asserted. The world is changing unimaginably and the UN needs the members' support to 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 and 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵 to what the world demands, that the world organization will be more 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦.

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Written by: Marcus Lex Cajusay Layout and design by: Dan Kurt Buenaventura