Within the United Nations there are six core areas of conflict resolution. These areas work at times jointly together but also have been know to clash. The six core areas are diplomacy, none binding General Assembly resolutions, Security Council mandates and resolutions, Peacekeeping forces, and Peacemaking forces. Yet, one must qualify the argument and focus on a core aspect of the question. To this end we shall look at the most widespread area of United Nations conflict resolution diplomacy. The issue of diplomacy leads to the heart of UN conflict resolution. For diplomacy is why the UN both is still a player on the world scene and is at times looked down upon by some states and groups. Diplomacy shows us why the UN faces a problematic status in conflict resolution.

To really grasp the present pressures on UN conflict resolution one must look to the past. When viewing resent history (e.g. the past 50 years) a pattern within the UN emerges. The UN during the cold war was a body meant on keeping one thing...peace. To these ends the UN used diplomacy to deescalate war cooling down both the major powers in the bipolar world. A very good example of this wa

After the fall of communism the world changed dramatically. The sole remaining superpower tried to fill the void left from the collapse of the eastern block. Yet, the UN also attempted to fill this void and seek what it always wanted a free hand in preventing war and accomplishing peace. The successes of the Gulf War drove both the United Nations and the remaining world powers to back this new idea for UN involvement around the world. Former President George Bush backed this ambitious new UN in his famous 1990 "New World Order" speech. Bush sought a UN that would seek a more important and paramount role in advancing peace and stability around the world. The UN tired to play this progressive role in the next six years. This is the start of the problem with UN diplomacy. The problematic issues are two fold. Internally the UN has had several key failures during its ambitious new role of nation building that ultimately utterly diminished its credibility around the globe. Somalia, Cambodia, and the continued failure to advance real peace in the Balkans has lead many to feel that the UN has lost all its status in negotiations. The failures to shift from the post-cold war mindset to the modern day and translate a real new policy among it's negotiating teams around the globe sets the stage for the core problems in UN diplomacy.

The final issues the UN faces is the external pressures placed upon actors and the institution itself. The United Nations is by fare not the only world organization in existence today that actors can seek mediation from. At times actors seek to petition the great powers directly for conflict resolution choosing to bypass the UN altogether. This can be seen in the most resent talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Cairo. The Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government sought the United States not the UN to mediate a peace settlement. This while not a successful summit did show that actors at times don't want to bother with the UN as an adviser on conflicts. They feel that it is more legitimate to seek the great powers advice and assistance than to wade through the diplomatic nightmare the UN at times presents. Other organizations such as the Arab League, Nato and the EU all at times force themselves into a situation making it either worse of seeking a direct role in conflict resolution. As the UN never wishes to become a combatant in a conflict they tend not to use the forceful tactics that these other world bodies can attempt. An example of this is the Nato bombing in Kosovo that brought in UN troops after UN efforts failed to do so. These other world organizations complicate the UN's ability to really do solid conflict resolution. They allow for combatants to seek help outside the UN and lower the UN's prestige as the sole peace-making mediator on the global scene today.

Sought to seek Bourantnis & Weiner The United Nations and the New World Order

Hon-Won Jeong Conflict Resolution: Dynamics, Process and

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Approximate Word count = 2007
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)