Originally published on the CGS blog on July 27, 2007.
The U.S. has played a formative role in starting the United Nations, and it is a crucial tool for diplomacy and security. However, a small, but vocal, minority has been clamoring to withdraw from the U.N. and cut funding from it due to recent scandals and negative publicity. I’m not saying that the United Nations is perfect, but despite its problems, it is still the most visionary and effective institution for promoting peace and human rights, while running on a budget smaller than the annual budget of a fire department in Tokyo.
The U.N. Emergency Peace Service is the perfect example. Here is an excellent way to update and improve the global response to conflict and genocide that has been perceived as a non-starter because of partisan politics. Peacekeeping has greatly improved in the past decades, but it is not perfect. Both sides agree that it needs to be reformed for the 21st century and the current conflicts occurring around the world. UNEPS would have faster response capabilities, greater interoperability, and improved accountability. It would be able to get into conflicts before they escalate into genocide or spread to other states. Not only would this save millions of lives and billions of dollars, but it would also reform the U.N. in a pragmatic, forward-thinking way.
For the past several weeks, GlobalSolutions.org has been lobbying on the hill in support of H.Res.213, a resolution that supports the creation of a UNEPS. The sense we’ve gotten from a lot of offices is that it sounds like a good idea, and could be very effective, but they’ve been hearing a lot from the vocal, anti-U.N. minority that I mentioned earlier. One office was pretty enthusiastic and supportive, but didn’t want to sign on because there weren’t enough members of his party on the bill. Keep in mind, this is a proposal that could save millions of lives and billions of dollars. The U.S. needs reform in the U.N., not withdrawal. Partisan politics and negative, one-dimensional approaches to reform only impedes the process, causing even more problems at the U.N. After all, if it didn’t exist, we’d have to make it up.
