International Issues Examination; The United Nations
Operating at an international scope for any organization requires knowledge and skills that are beyond the normal operations. Familiarizing with other nations is very essential since it allows such an organization to understand the policies, culture, and regulations of the country. Familiarizing with the countries in which it operates also enables the organization to understand its operational limits and freedoms. The United Nations is one of the international organizations that over the years has had a great impact in various nations across the globe. Founded in 1945 in San Francisco, California, its goal as an intergovernmental organization has been to enhance peace and security among nations. It aims at developing friendly relations across the globe and achieves co-operation at an international level.
Climate change issue is the biggest challenge that the UN has been facing and has seen many nations doubt the effectiveness of the UN in curbing the negative impacts that arise from climate change. The use of armed conflict to bring peace in war-prone nations has been ridiculed as an ironical approach to attaining peace. Many questions have emerged like, ‘how you use guns to seek peace?’ The UN has also been criticized on its focus on ending peace or looking at the symptoms of a crisis instead of focusing on what really causes the crisis. Small states comprised of developing nations have complained of their non-inclusion in the maintenance of security. The article will focus on the issues the UN is facing in its attempts in international management.
Management issues within the UN.
Climate change is the leading global through that has caught the attention of many players including the UN. One of the main assumptions is that the climate alone will be affected by the adverse changes, but in reality, the economic, the health, food production, and security sectors will experience the impact of climate change (Scott, 2018). According to the climate change summit held last year in December, the current generation could be that last one with the ability to prevent the global warming catastrophe. Ironically, the summit was scheduled to be held in Poland where Poland is known to generate 80% of its electricity from coal. Burning coal is one of the greatest contributors to the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The government of Poland had intentions of having two of its coal companies to sponsor the UN summit. Many nations came forth to criticize by the UN to hold its climate change conference in the region. The UN also failed to address the issue of bioenergy in the conference and instead unveiled a loophole where the UN allows for trees to be harvested and burnt as bioenergy. The UN then gives incentives to the process in the name of carbon neutral which is unrealistic. Burning of biomass is equally as lethal as burning of coal in terms of the nature of emissions. The ignorance of the UN in the support to take action on biomass emission as well as supporting the burning of coal by holding the summit in Poland has raised attention on what the UN really stands for. It is feared that the UN may be acting under the umbrella of super political power and could be losing its sovereignty in addressing issues on global peace, security, and safety (Independent, 2019).
Maintaining the security of the developing nations or otherwise known as small states has been an area of controversy for the United Nations. The security council of the United Nations has the responsibility for settling disputes for global peace and sustainability (Freedman, 2015). Countries like Sierra Leone blamed incidences of terrorism, violence against women, and organized crimes to the non-inclusion of the developing nations into the UN governing body. The violence in such states is aimed at capturing the attention of the UN, but as seen in some countries like Rwanda, the UN may fail to provide the expected support. During the genocide in Rwanda, the UN sent its troops in the country in 1993. The soldiers had the mandate to maintain peace between the two conflicting groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. According to reports, in 1994, the UN failed Rwanda by ignoring the evidence of the genocide as a planned activity. The UN failed when they left Rwanda when they were at their most vulnerable state. At the time, the mission troop was not to use military force in any way, and its goal was to investigate the existing breaches in the genocide. The mission of the UN troops failed after the government plotted and slaughtered about 800,000 Tutsis in the minority group and moderate Hutus. The UN was blamed for failing to act on the call of the UN human rights investigator for Rwanda that sent a warning that genocide could occur in August 1993. There was little to no political will among the UN security council to take the necessary measures to prevent the genocide (Dallaire, 2009).
The UN has in many cases focused on how to handle a crisis after it has already happened instead of taking preventive measures. In many African countries like Rwanda and Somali, the UN has appeared to their rescue only after the crisis have already occurred. In the case of genocide Rwanda, the UN had been signaled of the probability of genocide, but the security council ignored the call until the crisis happened. Many states in the security council are unwilling to act before the crisis and will only take part in the peacekeeping after an incident has occurred for political and economic interests. The United States, in particular, had little political will to send its mission troops to the battle of Mogadishu in 1993 that left a number of Americans dead and others badly wounded.
Theories that apply to international management
Management is comprehensive and especially when practiced on a global scale. Organizations have therefore to be careful about how they carry out their day to day practices within the foreign nations. Management theories are a useful tool for an organization such a UN in its operations (Gooderham, 2013). The human relation theory places the organization in the position of a social entity. According to the human relations theory, economic and political incentives alone do not fulfill the goal of peacekeeping among the nations. The organization has to establish a close relation with the people and should, therefore, familiarize with the culture, customs, and the law of the land. The UN could have served the people of Rwanda better had it taken time to familiarize with the underlying causes for the two groups to conflict.
The contingency theory that was developed by Joan Woodward would also help an organization by enhancing the use of technology in situational contexts. The theory by Joan Woodward could highly benefit the UN by promoting the use of modern ways to prevent a crisis before it occurs. The UN could make use of social media platforms to track the planning of an attack by a terrorist group. With technology, preventive measures can be implemented and therefore ensuring peace within the nations. The main theory that internationally serving organizations can use is the classical management theory. The theory majorly focuses on motivation to enhance the achievement of goals. The United Nations could make use of the theory by rewarding every nation that makes an effort to maintain peace and security within its borders. Every nation that participates in maintaining the peace and security for another nation should as well be highly rewarded an attempt to enhance harmony.
Sustained Opinion on the effectiveness of the UN’s international management.
The United Nations has not in itself failed in enhancing the security and peace of the nations. Political players have a direct influence on the way the UN manages its affairs and relations with other nations. The example given of Rwanda shows of how members of the UN security council had no political will to take part in fighting for peace in Rwanda. Developing nations are marginalized when it comes to receiving aid from the UN when they are in crisis. It is therefore right to argue that the UN is not entirely sovereign and it in a way affiliates its performance to the super political powers. The economic state of a nation also determined the willingness of the UN to respond to the crisis. Developing nations and especially those in Africa have in many cases had to rely on the goodwill of others because the UN may fail in coming up with conflict resolutions. Africa for a long time had been left out from the UN security council member representation, and therefore it lacked the privileges associated with membership (UN, 2015).
Future of International Management
Maintaining multinational interactions has been one of the most significant challenges that many organizations face. Participation in peaceful activities across the globe by using a shared set of goals and rules that are satisfying to the organization and the nations is one of the core values that the UN should enhance. The UN should also fight for social justice for the third world countries by helping them out of extremes of poverty, tyrannical governments, and economic inequalities. International management should have key players that help in fighting the acts of governments such as that of Rwanda that saw the killing of about 800,000 people (Dallaire, 2009). In its sustainable development goals as an international management strategy, the UN should raise enough resources to enhance quality education and access to clean water and sanitation. The U.S is one of the political powers in the UN security council. The current administration by Trump is slowly shifting the existing international agreements hence threatening the performance of the UN.
The Trump administration has in several cases threatened to go to a nuclear war with South Korea yet it should be advocating for peace and security given that the UN headquarter are located in New York. The shift towards isolationism by the US will affect the operations of the UN at a global scale as well many other organizations that work for the worldwide good but are limited to paying loyalty to the US government. With the rapid growth of innovations and technology, organizations have to be careful with how they make use of the technology to enhance their participation on the global platform. The UN must ensure that in as much as it embraces the use of technology in its operations, it has to respect the values, policies, and the sovereignty of its member states. Technology is to be used as a tool to enhance the security of the nation but not as a tool to trigger terror like in the case between the US and South Korea.
Conclusion
Carrying out operations in more than one country requires an organization to have conducted sufficient information on the cultures, values, laws, and customs of each nation. The UN acts as the center for ensuring harmony among the actions of the various nations across the globe. UN has had many achievements in providing the peace and security of nations especially the developing nations. With its headquarters based in New York, the world’s largest economy, it is strategically located to enable it to navigate any alterations in harmony among nations easily. However, in all its attempt to maintain peace, some of its management strategies have primarily been criticized. Having adequate knowledge on the unique structure of each nation helps an organization to draw a line between what values and goals; those that are to be shared across the globe, and those that have to be customized for each nation. The UN should enhance its effectiveness in every nation whether developed or underdeveloped by taking a non-partisan position in regards to influence by the super political powers such as the US.
References
Dallaire, R. (2009). Shake hands with the devil: The failure of humanity in Rwanda. Vintage Canada.
Freedman, R. (2015). Failing to Protect: The UN and the Politicization of Human Rights. Oxford University Press.
Gooderham, P. N., & Grøgaard, B. (2013). International management: Theory and practice. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Independent. (2019). Climate deal reached with almost 200 countries after major summit. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/cop24-climate-change-deal- Poland-emissions-global-warming-Katowice-Paris-agreement-a8685411.html
Scott, S. V., & Ku, C. (Eds.). (2018). Climate change and the UN Security Council. Edward Elgar Publishing.
United Nations, U. N. (2015). United Nations Still Essential but Needs Reform to Be ‘Fit for Purpose’ in Coming Decades, Speakers Say as General Assembly Debate Continues. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/ga11694.doc.htm
