Is UN useless like Duterte says? Study shows otherwise
MANILA, Philippines (Originally published on Jan. 26, 2018) — For President Rodrigo Duterte, the United Nations is useless for mankind. It has failed to prevent, according to the Philippine leader, wars and genocide from transpiring.
However, a landmark study published in 2017 by two American universities said that the UN had been effective in its mandate to prevent wars than many experts thought.
When the UN was established in the ashes of two devastating world wars, it vowed to save "succeeding generations from the scourge of war."
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An analysis of 65 years of voting records conducted by Dartmouth College and The Ohio State University published in 2017 said that the world body had been effective at suppressing conflict throughout its history.
The study added that the UN acted more than just a bystander in world events and provided a forum where diplomacy needed to reduce the chances of war could be conducted.
“Our analysis provides evidence that the U.N. is more than just a witness of changing policy preferences,” Scott Pauls, chairperson of the Department of Mathematics at Dartmouth College, said.
“The world body impacts future decisions, particularly by suppressing conflict,” he said.
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In recent years, some have questioned the effectiveness of the UN in preventing wars and brutal atrocities, point to its ineffectual response in stopping the civil war in Syria and Russia's actions in the Ukraine.
"On Syria, as on so many other issues, the UN Security Council, the organisation’s executive engine, has been paralysed by profound splits between the permanent members, with Russia and China in one corner and the US, UK and France in the other," Christopher Meyer, a former British ambassador to the United State and Germany, wrote in The Telegraph newspaper in London back in 2015.
The Philippine leader also seemed to subscribe to this belief.
"The United Nations has no purpose at all actually for mankind as far as I'm concerned," Duterte said in his extemporaneous speech before Indian businessmen in New Delhi.
"With all its unutility (sic), it has not prevented any war. It has not prevented any massacre," the chief executive added.
However, the review of 5,143 UN General Assembly voting records from 1946 to 2011 found that the process of nations working together could build trust and facilitate fast and open communication, which could raise the chances of resolving conflicts peacefully.
"The evidence demonstrates that the U.N. is more effective at achieving its mandate of avoiding wars than many experts think," Skyler Cranmer, a professor of political science at The Ohio State University, said.
The researchers assessed the priorities that shaped state actions and identified historic voting alliances consisting of long-term and short-term groupings that form the basis of coalition building and cooperation.
Pauls said that while the UN did not prevent all armed conflicts, the alliances of nations reduced the probability of armed confrontations among nations.
“It is through this mechanism of intensified diplomatic interaction that the U.N. has historically been able to better achieve its primary goal of maintaining international peace and security,” Pauls said.
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