Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Mitchell Goulding Professor Solomon Major International Organizations 16 August 2007 UN and Iraq: The Weakest Coalition As the United Nations plans to reintroduce itself into the political landscape of Iraq, many realists argue that the United Nation's intervention, much like the intervention of the United States, will fail. While the United Nations argue that the multilateral approach they offer is what Iraq needs, they also submit that the United States will still shoulder much of the responsibility in Iraq. For this reason, Iraq will react with the same fervor at the UN's interference as they do to the United States': mass bombings and civilian casualties. While UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon argues that the organization of many foreign ministers to help initiate reform in Iraq will work, he also submits that the safety of his officials will remain "of paramount concern." The submission reveals the most important flaw in the United Nations' plan: Iraq has become overridden with violence ever since both the United States and the United Nations entered the war. In fact, following the United Nations announcement of intervention, the death toll of the "quadruple bombing in an area of mud and stone houses in the remote northern desert on Tuesday evening reached at least 250 dead" with "350 wounded making it the deadliest coordinated attack since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003." ...read more.

Middle

Still, it remains impossible for the drastically different religious factions in Iraq to set aside their differences. Social constructivists' desire to teach them to tolerate the other fails because of each faction's congenital desire to supersede their competition. The United Nations and United States argue that quality of life has been improving in Iraq for both the Shi'as and the Sunnis; however, the reality lies in the concept of absolute vs. relative gains. While both parties have improved under the concept of absolute gains in regards to availability of services and in some aspects safety, once put into relative perspective, the gains become minimal if existent. To the Sunnis who were once dominant over the Shi'as in Iraqi politics, the rise of the Shi'as under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki represents a failure and regression into the lower tier of Iraqi societal hierarchy. In the relative position, the Sunnis are in a worse place now than they were preceding the invasion of America into Iraq. Now out of political power, the Sunnis face the same persecution the Shi'as faced under Sunni rule. Not only is the safety and personal interests of the Sunni party at threat, but also the Shi'as have replaced them as the most powerful religious group in the country, causing the relative gains of the Sunnis to actually be a deficit. ...read more.

Conclusion

Because of the United States' unique role as the primary actor in the United Nations, any non-partisan citizen can come to the conclusion that any UN intervention involving America will fail. Because America still remains the shoulder of this operation, all attempts at reconciliation and reformation of Iraq for true improvement fall short. To make a difference, the almighty United States must resign its role in Middle-Eastern politics, including its relationship with Iraq's enemy Israel. While the United States and the United Nations remain optimistic of their success under the liberal idea that the corruption and aggression in Iraq is all due to misunderstanding and that cooperation can be met, realists meet the UN's decision to participate in Iraq again as fruitless and laughable. No matter how much money and supplies the United Nations -meaning the United States-pumps into Iraq, the situation will remain the same: internal strife and conflict will continue until separate countries are formed. The United States must let go of the idea of success in Iraq as many Americans have already abandoned the concept in favor of focusing the wasted funds on security domestically and social issues such as immigration, education, and healthcare. As liberals and the United States continue to promote their pending success in Iraq, realists should begin looking for alternative methods of supporting United States security and national interest in other regions. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Middle east section.