The United Nations: 1945, where did we go from there, 1955, where do we go from here? A frank appraisal
The United Nations: 1945, where did we go from there, 1955, where do we go from here? A frank appraisal
In the short space of ten years the U.N. has been called practically everything, from the greatest hope for mankind to a talking shop for overpaid diplomats. Is has been praised, it has been decried and attempts have been made to write it off completely, but in the words of Ralph J. Bunche, "It is after all not only the best we have, but all we have. Indeed what alternative to it is there but resignation to World War III."
Organizing for peace is nothing new in the world: "And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" was, after all, said seven centuries before Christ. From the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire, through the congresses and concerts of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, there has been a growing belief that an international organization might achieve and keep peace.
This belief has persisted in modern times and The Hague, Locarno and the League of Nations at Geneva arc stepping stones along the path which led to the Opera House building in the city of San Francisco on a hot June day in 1945. Assembled there were the plenipotentiaries of 50 sovereign States who affixed their signatures to a document which was designed to be a new code for humanity the United Nations Charter. This Charter brought into being the most ambitious experiment the world has yet seen in international co-operation.
To what degree has the United Nations been successful in upholding the high ideals set out in the preamble to the Charter? Has it been successful in saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war? Has it achieved unity in maintaining international peace and security? As yet no complete answer can be given to these questions. The U.N. has had its failures, but it has also had its successes. No mention of the stresses and tensions of the post-war years can fail to omit the part played by the U.N. in Korea, Palestine, Kashmir, Greece and Indonesia. At the same time it would be impossible to ignore the abortive discussions in the Security Council on questions which could have led to international conflicts, and the "lack of teeth" in some of the U.N.'s political machinery.
But despite its failures the U.N. still remains as one of the greatest moral forces in the world of today. It is, perhaps, the only basis on which civilization may rest its hope to survive, and peoples can seek to avoid the indescribable catastrophe of thermo-nuclear destruction.
As the U.N. celebrates its 10th anniversary on October 24th, it is a good occasion to take stock and attempt a frank appraisal of what it has achieved. In this issue an effort has been made in that direction.