Unable to broker a peaceful solution in Syria, has the United Nations lost its mandate to mediate and solve disputes around the world close to 67 years since its formation in 1945? Online reporter Tom Kituku interviewed professor Aurel Braun, of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. He is an expert on Middle East conflicts and strategic studies and conflict resolution.
Global News: What ails the UN?
Aurel Braun: The UN suffers from two problems. The structure, whereby you have five permanent members in the Security Council and the second reason is the composition. The UN represents not the people of the world but the governments of the world. This is a very big difference. How can you explain China with a population of 1.3 billion people is governed by a dictatorial regime and is a permanent member of the Security Council. We have countries represented in the UN that have dictatorial regimes. Look at Cuba, Saudi Arabia and even Syria.
The UN has a sorry history of not helping people whether it is in Rwanda during the genocide or the armed conflict in the Congo. It is not very realistic to think of the UN as an organization that has particularly been effective in keeping the peace. It was highly problematic from the start. This is an organization that was supposed to create equality among all member states but it has done the opposite. From the very start it created privilege by giving five countries permanent seats with veto power in the Security Council.
This meant that five states had some immunity status. Let me put it this way. Imagine a group of people here in Toronto driving down Yonge Street at 120 mph in their Ferrari and when they are pulled over by the police and given a ticket they tear the piece of paper, defy the police and drive away. That is how the five permanent members in the UN Security Council behave.
Look at the Human Rights Council. Recently who were the members of the UN Human Rights Council? Cuba and Saudi Arabia. These are countries which are supposed to advocate for human rights yet it is ironical human rights in their backyards is questionable. That is so bizarre!
Global News: Has the UN lost its clout?
Aurel Braun: When did it have clout in the first place? To lose something you must have something in the first place. The UN is flawed because it reflects how the world is. The world is in a pretty bad shape right now.
Global News: Do you vouch for another parallel organization to rival the UN?
Aurel Braun: So long as the UN is in existence you can’t have something better because all the money and the attention goes to the UN and let’s face it some of the members in the UN have vested interest in the organization. Back in May of 2010 Libya under Moammar Gadhafi was elected by more than 150 countries to sit on the UN human rights council to protect human rights.That sounded like something you could watch on Comedy Central. Telling a horrible dictator to protect human rights.
Global News: Is the UN Peace Plan doomed in Syria?
Aurel Braun: Let’s be realistic: nothing can be done in Syria. Russia and China will veto any decision by the Security Council to bring in military invention. It gets complicated because Iran and Russia are supporting Syria. It will just be a series of reports that will tell us what we already know about Syria, that this is a terrible human tragedy and horrific things are happening then we are all going to feel badly about it.
Global News: What do you think of the Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria? Just today there were reports of bombardment in Damascus by Assad forces.
Aurel Braun: Annan failed even before he left New York. His mandate for Syria was so narrow and impossible. His work was to help negotiate a peace plan that had no incentive from both sides of the conflict. Kofi is a decent man but he is on mission impossible.
Global News: Has the UN had any success in other areas?
Aurel Braun: The UN has done well through some its organizations like the World Health Organization but when it comes to peace and human rights it is a massive and horrific failure.
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