The United Nations has given us the appearance that they are an integral part of the system of international relations; all they do is provide a central link in the chain of international organizations that are tackling global problems today. Furthermore, the United Nations does not play any other key role in tackling many essential problems that occur in the world. The United Nations has no real influence in the world; this is a result of their lack of structure in the Security Council and their poor reactions to events, such as Kosovo and Iraq. These events have given the United Nations the image as a toothless tiger; however, peacekeeping practices held tightly by the United Nations does give the tiger a bit of a bite in the global fight for peace. The United Nations does not have clout in the world, but in certain situations the UN has proven itself as real powerbroker in today's world.

With the recent situation that is occurring in Iraq all eyes have been placed on the United Nations to see what steps they are going to take, if any, to stop the United States. The Iraq issue is shining a bright light onto the United Nations. It is highlighting a key issue for the wor

ld; does the United Nations have real any influence, is their presence beneficial to the world? The United Nations is caught between domestic oppositions to a war and increasing pressure from pro-war countries, mainly the United States. With other nations' opposition hardening, the White House left open the possibility that it would not seek a United Nations vote on its war-making resolution if the measure was clearly headed for defeat. (The Associated Press) By the United States overstepping the United Nations just as NATO had done in Kosovo it will ultimately show to the world the ineffectiveness of the Security Council. The decision made by the United Nations will help prove if they truly do wield power in the international community, or if the UN is just a farce under which the international community cannot feel secure.

If one looks at the few times when the United Nations peacekeeping missions were successful, one would think that the United Nations is a very worthwhile organization. However, the reality is that the United Nations peacekeeping missions have a very spotted history with a number of countries, one being Kosovo. The crises in Kosovo began by competing constructions of history serving to perpetuate a climate of hatred between the ethnic Serb and Albanian communities and triggered a spiral of conflict (Juddah 53). Each side had maintained a perception of history as dominated by one or the other side, and each claimed exclusive rights and sovereignty over the same piece of land. The conflict mainly resulted from the deliberate and strategic policies of Serbia's ruling elites, which had the short-term goal of securing the continuation of their own power and shoring up the existing power structure that had been showing signs of decay since the mid-1980s (Cohen 202). The United Nations, because of the largely used veto power, could not do much to aid the people in Kosovo, because Russian and Chinese opposition to military intervention in Kosovo would have blocked action by the UN Security Council. As a result of the of just two countries disagreeing with intervention in the Kosovo crises the United Nations could do nothing but sit back and watch NATO take over. Chapter VIII of the Charter recognizes the rights and responsibilities of regional organizations to "make every effort to achieve peaceful disputes" (Mingst 75) before referring them to the Security Council. However when an organization wants to use force it needs the permission of the Security Council. This is supposed to ensure the United Nations' dominance in regards to enforcement. Although the United Nations attempted with such resolutions as 1199 on September 23 1998, the UN Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire, withdrawal of military and paramilitary forces, complete access for humanitarian organizations, and cooperation on the investigation of war crimes in Kosovo. The resolution did not explicitly threaten the use of all necessary means; NATO interpreted this as a legitimization for the use of military force against the FRY. (Juddah 60) The United Nations had no real authority and when they made this resolution, NATO interpreted it as just cause for military action if the resolution was not followed. The Untied Nations attempted to end the conflict but just like resolution 1199, it held no real endorsement and NATO made what they wanted out of it. The UN made many errors in judgment, one such being the creation of the Kosovo Protection Force (KPC). The KPC was made of many of the But none - literally none - of the KLA leaders or members were arrested by KFOR (NATO's occupation force in Kosovo is called KFOR). They were not even subjected to serious re-education. Instead, they were given new uniforms, enrolled in an official UN organization, and put on salary, courtesy of the UN and KFOR. In a cruel irony, the United Nations is paying the salaries of many of the gangsters. (Chossudovsky) Because of this lack

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Approximate Word count = 2686
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)