KARACHI:
With “maintaining peace among the global community” as its prior most concern, the UN was set up in 1945 by the warring nations of WWII so as to prevent conflicts from happening in the future. It marked the shift from violent means of confrontation to a more diplomatic way of communication. Fortunately, a global war of that extent never did ensue again. However, almost 3/4th of a century later, peace still remains an unachievable dream.
There is no doubt that the organisation has been successful in a number of domains including trade and economy, but the failures, particularly the most sensitive ones, outnumber the successes. The Indian invasion in Kashmir, the non-consensual plantation of Israel in the midst of Arab land, the Korean War, the Taiwan War, and many other horrific events have occurred during this span of time. Statistics indicate that the number of casualties, not including deaths caused by artificial famines and man-made disasters, are equal to around three times than those in both world wars combined. It appears as if the UN’s rhetoric of peace is fading away and together with it, the very cause of its existence.
It has been a year since the 74th UN General Assembly meeting took place. It hosted a number of world leaders showing immense concern for the devastating situation of the world. It is rather unfortunate but predictable that none of the speeches were translated into effective action. Instead, the world is even more polarised than ever before. It has become quite evident that the UN has hindered a world war but at the expense of a streak of small wars and conflicts.
Muhammad Salman
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2020.
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