International Perspectives
International Perspectives
Assignment 1: Understanding International Organisations
Russell Sheath
In this assignment am going to look at the international organisations UN, NATO and the EU. I will look at the history of each organisation and the structure of the Organisation. I will also look at how decisions by these organisations have affected the UK public services.
The United Nations
The History of the UN - The UN was being drawn up while the Second World War was still ongoing. In February of 1945, at Yalta in the USSR the US, UK and the Soviet Union decided that a conference would be held in San Francisco to decide the plans of the new organisation. The conference was to be attended by all who opposed the Axis regime and powers. (Germany, Japan and Italy) In this conference the UN charter was set up by which is the rules that the UN is run.
Timeline of the UN
945 - United Nations Founded at San Francisco.
946 - UN Vote to set up Headquarters in San Francisco, Trygve Lie is appointed as the Secretary General.
947 - Partition of Palestine recommended.
948 - Security Council arranged Arab - Israeli truce.
949 - Arab Israeli armistice achieved.
950 - Security Council, in absence of the Soviet Union voted military aid for South Korea.
953 - Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden appointed secretary General; Korean War truce signed.
960 - U.N sent peace mission to Congo.
961 - U. Thant of Burma appointed Secretary General.
967 - Security Council arranged Arab - Israeli cease-fire.
==> 1971 - The Peoples Republic of China admitted to U.N., taking the place of formerly held republic of China (Taiwan).
972 - Kurt Waldheim of Austria becomes secretary general succeeding U. Thant.
978 - U.N Troops sent to Lebanon to support the withdrawal and cease fire of Israeli and Palestine forces.
982 - Javier Pérez de Cuéller of Peru takes office of as secretary General.
988 - Nobel Peace prize awarded to U.N peacekeeping forces.
990 -1991 - U.N. Secretary Council voted trade sanctions against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait. Approved us of military force liberates Kuwait.
991 - 1992 - Many new members were admitted to the U.N from the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
992 - Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt took office as Secretary General.
997 - Kofi Atta Annan of Ghana becomes the first black African Secretary General.
The Purpose of the United Nations
The purpose of the United Nations is to:
- Develop friendly relations between Nations
- To Co-operate in solving international, Economic, Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian problems and promoting respect for Human Rights and fundamental freedoms.
- To be a centre for harmonising the actions of Nations in attaining these ends.
The structure of the UN
The UN is made of six main parts which together function together to serve the UN's purpose.
==> The General Assembly
==> The Security Council
==> Economic and Social Council
==> Trusteeship Council
==> International Court of Justice
==> Secretariat
The General Assembly
The General Assembly is made up of 191 member states with 5 delegates each. The role of the General Assembly is to:
To elect members of the economic and social council. Alongside with the Trusteeship Council it elects the judges for the International Court of Justice. The General Assembly also appoints the Secretary General of the U.N via recommendation of the Security Council.
The General Assembly also approves the budget for the UN, and what each member state should pay towards its running.
The decisions made in the General Assembly might be made by a majority vote, like the election of a Secretary General, or in important questions by which a majority of two thirds is required.
Security Council
The Security Council is in place to look after International Peace and Security and to cater for the interests of all its members. When the UN charter was drawn up it made the, UK, USA, Russia, China ...
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The General Assembly also approves the budget for the UN, and what each member state should pay towards its running.
The decisions made in the General Assembly might be made by a majority vote, like the election of a Secretary General, or in important questions by which a majority of two thirds is required.
Security Council
The Security Council is in place to look after International Peace and Security and to cater for the interests of all its members. When the UN charter was drawn up it made the, UK, USA, Russia, China and France permanent members of the Security Council. This was because they were deemed the most powerful nations at the time. The council also has members which change every two years, this is because since the charter was drawn up certain states have come to yield much more influence. They are elected by the general assembly and the Secretary General.
The role of the Security Council is to:
- To investigate any dispute or situation this may lead to International friction.
- To recommend methods for adjusting such disputes or terms of a settlement.
- To formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.
- To determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken.
- To call on members to apply constraints and economic sanctions without military force to prevent or stop aggression.
- To take military action against an Aggressor.
- To recommend admission of new members.
- To exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in strategic Areas.
- To recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary General.
The Economic and Social Council
The Economic Council responsibilities are: making up proposals between nations and the co-operation between the nations involved. They also deal with Social and Economic questions such as:
==> Urban Development
==> Payment or eradication of debt
==> Entertainment standards
The Council is made up of 54 members and works under the guidance of the General Assembly. There are no permanent members within the council, 18 of the members will be elected every year for a 3 year term.
Trusteeship Council
This Council aids the General Assembly in supervising the administration of territories placed under trusteeship. The territories being placed under trusteeship are usually former colonies which where defeated in the first or Second World War. The Trusteeship Council has several duties:
==> To review the reports from any authorities that supervises trust territories.
==> The Council sends missions to the trust territories and generally supervises the way in which they are governed.
The Secretariat
The Secretariat is the main administrative section of the UN; it is also headed by the Secretary General.
The Secretary General may be given special duties to perform by any of the UN's sectors. The staff from inside Secretariat must be internationals meaning that there must be a diverse range of members to represent all of the member states.
The International Court of Justice
The Court of Justice is the judicial organisation within the United Nations. The Court is made up of 15 international judges that hold office for nine year terms. They are elected by the General Assembly. Its jobs include; decisions on disputes between Nations, and also gives legal advice to other organisations of the UN. Also the Court will deal with War Crime tribunals and the sentencing of War Criminals.
Ways in which the UN has Affected the UK Public Services
Sierra Leone
As part of a UN peacekeeping force the British forces were sent overseas to Sierra Leone to restore law and order in the country due to instability, tribes and gangs were running amok and fighting the government troops, the people were being terrorised by both the Gangs and the Government. So British troops as part of a UN force assisted in the re-stabilisation of the country and with the subsequent re-construction and professional training of Sierra Leone's Army and Police Force. So the Forces put a lot of their available resources, such as their elite paratroopers, into Sierra Leone which meant if there were a crisis somewhere else their man power and finances would have been under sever strain.
The Balkans Conflict
The UK as part of a UN peacekeeping force deployed to the Balkans to quell the Serbian invasion of Bosnia and to stop in-house violence that was based on religious grounds. This meant that the UN forces had to transport equipment such as tanks and fuel supplies into the country which would mean of there were another crisis somewhere else then resources of the Armed Forces would have been under severe strain.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
History
NATO was formed on 4th April 1949 in Washington D.C. The first countries to join NATO were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and the United States
In 1952 Greece and Turkey joined, West Germany in 1955, Spain in 1982 and a reunited Germany in 1990.
In 1966 France withdrew its military forces from NATO, although wanting to remain a member state.
Tension in the 70's and 80's between Greece and Turkey led to the Greeks withdrawing some of its troops from NATO as well.
Then in the 1980's many states objected to the U.S stationing missiles in several countries which further tested the strengths of alliances.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation had to rethink what role it was to play and so became a peacekeeping organisation.
In 1997 to stop the Russians panicking about the U.S missiles in Europe they proposed a reduction of arms in Central Europe. Also at this time NATO invited three former Soviet-bloc Nations - Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary to join NATO.
The Original reason for NATO
The original reason for NATO to be set up in 1949 was to bring all Western countries together in solidarity against the Warsaw pact (East) which at the time was the communist's equivalent of the UN.
The Structure of NATO
The governing body of NATO is the North Atlantic Council. It is made up of permanent representatives from the member states. These members sit in continuous session at the Headquarters of NATO near Brussels in Belgium. Within the North Atlantic Council there is a chairman who is the Secretary General.
The Military Committee is the highest Military authority inside NATO. The Military Committee is made up of various senior military commanders from all of the member states.
NATO has three military commands; - The European, Atlantic and Channel Commands - plus the Canada, United States Regional Planning Group.
Of these three Commands the European Command is most important and is situated in Casteau, Belgium. The Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers in Europe. This is headed by the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe. Within the European Command there are four subcommands - for Northern, Central and Southern Europe and the Mediterranean.
The Ways that NATO have affected the UK's Public Services
Afghanistan
The first instance in that NATO has affected the Public Services in the way of the UK's Armed Forces would be with the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) inside Afghanistan. The aim of this was to aid the Afghan government in restoring power and democracy to the Nations Government and its people. To do this the UK's forces were sent Afghanistan to disrupt and dispel the Taliban from the Southern provinces including Helmand. Our forces are in Afghanistan still fighting the Taliban and trying to restore order and take control of the local towns and villages within Helmand, by restoring schools, medical clinics and training the Army and Police force within Helmand.
Pakistan Earthquake
The UK's Armed forces were sent to Pakistan under NATO to help with the reconstruction of the destroyed towns and small villages in the mountainous regions of Pakistan. They sent in a lot of air attributes to help airlift supplies to inaccessible areas and also extract casualties from those areas. So this meant some available resources were taken away from the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres.
The European Union
The European Union is a unique partnership in which 27 member states work together closely for the benefit of all their citizens.
The EU was formed 1958 after the devastation that ravaged Europe in the Second World War. Originally there were only Six Nations; France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Luxemburg.
The EU is governed by many treaties that are negotiated at Intergovernmental conferences (IGC's) and ratified by each member of state.
The Key Institutions inside the EU
The Key Institutions that help the EU function are:
==> The European Council
==> The European Commission
==> European Parliament
==> European Court of Justice
The European Council
Or council of ministers as it is formally known shares with the European Parliament the responsibility of passing laws and undertaking policy making decisions. It also takes on what the EU does within the common foreign and security policy.
The European Commission
The European Commission represents and upholds the interests of Europe as a whole. It drafts new proposals for European Laws and then presents them to the European Parliament and European Council.
Also it helps with the day to day running of the EU by implementing EU policies and Spending of EU funds. The European Commission keeps an eye on member states making sure they abide by treaties, if not it can take them to the Court of Justice if Necessary.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament has the main job of passing new law proposals which come from the European Commission. It shares this role with the Council of the European Union they also have joint responsibility on approving the EU's 100 billion Euro annual budget. The Parliament also has the Power to dismiss the European Commission.
The European Court of Justice
The Court of Justice is in place to make sure that European law is applied equally to all member states making sure that all crimes are given equal trial to one similar to it. The Court is also in place to make sure that all member states do what the law requires of them.
The Court of Justice is situated within Luxembourg and has a judge from each member state.
The Decision making process within the EU
Decisions to do with laws within the EU start with the European Commission and then it is passed onto the European Parliament and European Council.
The EU would use one of three ways of achieving a final verdict either by way of:
==> Co-decision
==> Consultant
==> Or Assent
The way of Co-decision usually affects the Public Services because they often involve subjects such as:
==> Non - Discrimination due to Nationality
==> The right to move and reside
==> The free movement of workers
==> Social Security for migrant workers
==> Employment
==> The fight against social exclusion
==> Equal opportunities and Equal rights
==> Health
==> Preventing and Combating Fraud
==> Data Protection
Ways that the EU has affected the UK's Public Services
The Euro fighter
As the EU called for a research and development level on military scale the six leading aeronautical countries went to work on a Multi - Role Fighter that could switch roles between air to land or air to air with great ease. They way that this affected the Public Services (the RAF) is that they would of gained a great Swing Role Fighter with leading technology but with a shared cost using less of their budget on this aircraft.
Also it makes the RAF an even more recognisable force with a better more up to date fighter.
The EU and road safety
In 2007 the EU opened a European speed enforcement project showing young road users that speeding is dangerous.
This would of meant that the UK's traffic police would have been on high alert for speeding motorists and spent more time and money on slower speed campaigns throughout the British Isles. This would of taken up a lot of time and man power but in the long run it should reduce the amount of Speed related deaths on the UK's roads.
The EUFOR
This is an EU military operation within Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereby the EU has a military presence within these countries to contribute to a safer and more secure environment within BiH.
The way that this affects the Armed Forces of the UK is that it stretches our forces further more and puts more troops in what could be harms way when they could be doing more substantial work for the UK as a whole.
The EU and Combating Discrimination
The EU set up a plan in 2001 to combat discrimination in the work place and in the community. The way that this would have affected the Public services is that they would have had to accommodate to lots of different needs within the work places and bring forward new plans themselves to prevent racism, sexism and other sorts of social discrimination. To do this they would have spent money educating Police officers in ways to act on discrimination charges and cases to do with this.
Bibliography
==> www.mod.uk
==> www.europa.eu
==> www.NATO.int
==> www.un.org
James Griffin
