United Nation in the Post Cold War Era

Seventy-Nine years ago, the United Nations was born out of the
sufferings caused by the Second World War. The purpose of the
Organization, as indicated in its Charter, was to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war. It aimed to correct the League of
Nations ' deficiencies, and managed to survive since 1945, twice as
long as the League of Nations. After the failure of the League of
Nations, the establishment of the United Nations was the second
attempt at creating a collective security system within only a few
decades. However, due to the rigid structure of the UN, the Security
Council (SC) often found itself in a deadlock situation, unable to act
efficiently.
Indeed, on several occasions it can be said that the SC was used as a
tool of superpower influence, For instance.
UN involvement in the 1991 Gulf War

When Iraq invaded its oil-rich Neighbour, Kuwait, in August 1991 the
UN Security Council passed twelve resolutions aimed at forcing Iraq
to withdraw. Resolution 678 enabled member states to use 'all
necessary means' to remove Iraq from Kuwait. Iraq's failure to
withdraw by 15 January 1991 led to a twenty-eight power UN coalition
force being formed. This removed Iraqi forces from Kuwait. In doing so
the coalition forces not only attacked Iraqi troops in Kuwait, it also
bombed Iraq itself.
The UN action raised a number of concerns. The most significant was
that the coalition was dominated by US forces. Many critics argued
that the USA created an anti-Iraq coalition in order to serve US
interests. The UN was presented as a tool used to promote US
influence, which wanted to ensure its own Persian agenda was
fulfilled. This UN enforcement action in the Persian Gulf was the first
in the new post-Cold War era and it revealed the limited powers of the
Security Council in the face of US determination.
Cambodia, 1992-3
In February 1992 the Security Council established the United Nations
Transition Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Its role was to produce a 'just
and durable settlement to the Cambodian conflict' based on free
elections.
Part of this process necessitated at the same time disarming the Khmer
Rouge guerrillas and the government forces. By May 1993 the UN had
succeeded in managing national elections. Once the elections had been
held the UN began to withdraw its personnel. The elections had been a
clear victory for the UN.
In the 10 years after the UN's withdrawal Cambodia slowly developed
democracy, great openness came into Cambodia and criticism came to
be tolerated. Cambodia is much more usefully seen as an example of
the possibilities as well as the limitations of the UN's role in
transplanting democracy and political stability to countries that are
emerging.
Despite the clear successes enjoyed by the UN there were some
significant shortcomings. Cambodia remained a fundamentally unstable
state after UNTAC had left. The problem was that because the
superpowers no longer had specific interests, they no longer influenced
their former client states.
Somalia, 1992-5
After the Cold War, superpower interest in Somalia declined. Somalia's
strategic position was boosted by the USSR's support of Ethiopia's
revolutionary regime and the USA's support of Siyad Barre's Somali
regime. By 1991 this regime had collapsed and country was handed over
to the Warlords.
In August 1992 the Security Council established United Nations
Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The aim of UNOSOM was to provide
humanitarian aid. The violence could not be prevented by the small UN
force in Somalia and by December 1992 the USA offered 27,000 troops
in order to provide security for UN aid to Somalia. The Security Council
set up a Unified Task Force (UNITAF).
There were considerable anti-American feelings among many developing
states and Somalia was one of them.
In May 1993 the Security Council authorized UNOSOM II. This was to be
under UN rather than US control. A period of bloody violence followed as
UN forces clashed with one of the warlords, Mohammed Aidid. Part of
the conflict was known as the Battle of Mogadishu and there is also a
Hollywood movie on it, entitled with 'Black Hawk Down'. In this
operation 25 Pakistani UN troops were killed in a single day which was
the deadliest day in UN history.
By May 1994 President Clinton's administration decided to withdraw its
troops. The last UN forces leave Somalia in March 1995, and ended the
peacekeeping operation. Somalia still remained a without applicable
cental government.
UN Involvement in Former Yugoslavia
As soon as the war broke out in Bosnia in 1992, the leadership of Bosnia
requested to the United Nations to help but they refused, and Serbs went from
town to town to execute boys and men. Hundreds of women were raped and
placed in concentration camps. Resolutions after resolutions were passed in
the UN, condemning the killings by the Serb forces, but the most powerful
member states of the UN did nothing.
A ray of hope emerged for Bosnians when on March 12th, 1993, General
Philippe Morillon, the UN peacekeeping commander in Bosnia, brought long-
awaited medical aid, food, and protection.
In order to stabilize the situation in Bosnia, he announced that the people
were now under UN protection forces.
While this statement calmed down the Bosnians, it created panic in the
headquarters of the United Nations because the statement was made without
any official commands and clearance.
Approximately, 25,000 UN peacekeepers were involved in the Bosnian
conflict and during this time, 110 of them were killed, 831 were wounded, and
hundreds of them were taken as hostages. Some places were declared Safe
Zone which meant that people in these areas shall be protected.
The peacekeepers of the UN were placed in safe zones primarily to protect the
people in these regions, and it is where they failed miserably. Not a single “safe
zone” was left where the Serb forces did not launch any heavy shelling.
By September 1995, Richard Holbrooke succeeded in getting an agreement
signed by the leaders of the Bosnian Serbs to end the conflict.
The Dayton Peace Accords proved successful to end the bloodiest conflict in
Europe after World War II.

The Rwanda Genocide

Between April and June 1994, 800,000 Rwandan citizens were murdered,
mainly Tutsi tribe members, by the Hutu majority after President Juvenal
Habyarimana's plane was shot down over Kigali airport. A UN force
(UNAMIR) had been in Rwanda for eight months, facilitating the Arusha
Peace Accords between the Hutus and Tutsis.
However, the UN's response to the Rwanda crisis was inadequate, with no
swift response from a heavy force deployed by a strong military power. There
was no significant international pressure, particularly from the USA.
The Security Council reduced UN military forces after attacks against Belgian
peacekeepers. The UN failed to establish a secure environment in Rwanda,
and humanitarian aid only reached Rwanda after the genocide had been
completed. The UN's role in Rwanda has been judged as one of its greatest
failures.