Success of the Un

“Is the United Nations a Success?” A large number of people would suggest that the United Nations is a failure overall. They would say that it has not done anything to help people and it does not enforce its own laws and mandates. Those who feel the United Nations has failed base their opinion on what they see in the news—most notably the recent “failures” of Peace Keeping Missions in Rwanda, Sudan, Congo, Angola and Myanmar. It is hard to ignore the issues that the UN has faced over the years and it would be naive to say it was a complete success. However, that is not to say it is not a success at all. If a student fails one exam in a single class, does that mean they are failing out of the University? Or if a student fails a single class, is all else lost? No, not at all. The UN has its problems but overall it has proven to be incredibly successful. The first reason the UN should be considered a success is that it has lasted much longer than its predecessor, The League of Nations. The League of Nations came into being after WWI and lasted until WWII—just twenty years or so. The UN began in 1948 and continues on today, some 60 years later. It has a solid enough foundation to continue as an international body despite the fact that everyone of the 180 countries or so in the UN has their own agenda. It is beyond impressive that it continues to exist to this day and is able to maintain a high enough level of authority to keep so many countries together. The reason its mere existence is so important and grants the UN as a success is what it provides in terms of international safety. Since WWII there have been no major wars that spanned continents. The reason for this is the UN. For 60 years it has provided a forum for countries to talk about their issues. Before the UN, when a nation wanted to go to war, they gathered their allies and declared war. Today, they go to the UN, present their case and wait. It has also provided a body that in