Role of United Nations in regulating conflict & maintaining peace (A-Level Geography)

Summary

This video delves into the United Nations' pivotal role as a supranational institution in maintaining global peace and order. Established post-World War II with 51 countries, it has grown to 193 members, excluding Palestine and the Holy See. The UN fosters international law through treaties, exemplified by the Paris Agreement, and addresses conflicts via peacekeeping missions and peacebuilding initiatives. It also reforms institutions, promotes disarmament, and provides humanitarian aid, as seen in its efforts in Mali, including a national action plan against gender-based violence and measles vaccinations. The video promises further exploration of the UN's multifaceted strategies in future content.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The UN is a supranational institution that operates above sovereign states and plays a key role in maintaining global peace and political order.
• 📈 Established in 1945, the UN has grown from 51 to 193 member states, with only Palestine and the Holy See not being members.
• 📝 The UN develops international law and treaties, which are agreements between two or more states or international organizations, based on universally accepted norms.
• 🏛 The UN Charter serves as the foundation for many international treaties, setting the standards for behavior and cooperation among nations.
• 🌳 Treaties like the Paris Agreement aim to address global issues such as climate change by setting targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
• 💥 Some treaties, such as the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, face challenges due to non-participation by major powers.
• 🛡 Peacekeeping is a significant UN role, involving the deployment of military personnel from member states to intervene in conflicts and maintain peace.
• 🏗️ Peacebuilding is a longer-term process that includes repairing relationships, reforming institutions, disarmament, and ensuring fair elections and human rights.
• 👮‍♂️ The UN assists in reforming institutions like the Malian police force, helping to develop national action plans to address issues like violence against women.
• 🤝 Humanitarian aid is a crucial aspect of the UN's work, providing support during crises, such as measles vaccinations for children in Mali.
• 👥 The UN Security Council plays a vital role in international peace and security, though it will be discussed in a separate video.

Q & A

What is the role of the United Nations (UN) in maintaining global peace and security?

The UN plays a key role in maintaining global peace and security by regulating conflicts, fostering cooperation, developing good relations between nations, upholding international law through treaties, and engaging in peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts.

What does 'supranational institution' mean in the context of the UN?

A 'supranational institution' refers to an organization that has authority over sovereign states, as the UN does, operating at a level of governance above that of individual countries.

How many member states are there in the UN, and which states are not members?

There are 193 member states in the UN. The two states that are not part of it are Palestine and the Holy See (Vatican City).

What is the purpose of international treaties as discussed in the script?

International treaties are written agreements between two or more parties, such as countries or international organizations, to establish norms of behavior, customs, and morals, often aimed at addressing global issues like climate change or disarmament.

What is the significance of the UN Charter in the context of treaties?

The UN Charter serves as the foundation for many international treaties, as it outlines the norms and standards of behavior that are universally accepted and are often the basis for treaty agreements.

Can you provide an example of a treaty mentioned in the script and its effectiveness?

The Ottawa Treaty of 1997 is an example mentioned in the script. It aimed to stop the production, use, and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines. While 164 countries signed it, the absence of major powers like China, Russia, and the USA raises questions about its overall effectiveness.

What is the role of peacekeeping in the UN's efforts to maintain peace?

Peacekeeping involves the deployment of military troops from member states to intervene in conflicts with the aim of maintaining peace and stability. This is done under the UN's guidance and involves on-the-ground operations.

How does the UN approach peacebuilding as opposed to peacekeeping?

Peacebuilding is a longer-term process that involves repairing relationships, reforming institutions, disarmament, ensuring fair elections, and implementing human rights, among other initiatives, to establish lasting peace.

Can you give an example of the UN's peacebuilding efforts mentioned in the script?

The script mentions the UN's involvement with the Malian police force, where they helped implement a three-year national action plan to address issues of violence against women, particularly sexual violence.

What is the significance of humanitarian aid in the UN's operations?

Humanitarian aid is a critical aspect of the UN's work, providing essential support during crises, such as measles vaccinations in Mali, to protect and improve the lives of people affected by conflicts or disasters.

What is the UN Security Council, and why is it significant?

The UN Security Council is one of the six main organs of the UN, responsible for maintaining international peace and security. It has significant power, including the authority to establish peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions, and authorize the use of force.

Outlines

00:00

🕊️ The UN's Role in Global Peace and Order

This paragraph discusses the UN's foundational role in regulating conflicts, maintaining peace, and supporting global political order among sovereign states. It highlights the UN's growth since its inception in 1945, its current membership of 193 states, and the main aims of developing good international relations, upholding international law through treaties, and fostering cooperation.

05:01

📜 Understanding Treaties and International Law

This section explains the nature of treaties as written international agreements between two or more parties, often based on universally accepted norms and the UN Charter. Examples include the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Ottawa Treaty on landmines, with a discussion on the effectiveness of treaties when major powers do not participate.

👮‍♂️ The Role of Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

This part explores the UN's peacekeeping missions, where military personnel from member states intervene in conflicts, and the broader concept of peacebuilding, which involves long-term efforts like repairing relationships between conflicting groups, reforming institutions, disarmament, ensuring fair elections, and upholding human rights. Examples include the UN's assistance to the Malian police force and UNICEF's measles vaccination campaign in Mali.

Keywords

💡Supranational Institution

A supranational institution is a form of governance that operates above the level of individual sovereign states. In the context of the video, the United Nations (UN) is described as a supranational institution, which means it has authority and influence that transcends national borders. The UN was established in 1945 post-war with the aim of preventing conflicts and maintaining peace on a global scale. The video highlights that the UN started with 51 countries and has grown to 193 member states, emphasizing its significant role in international relations.

💡Sovereign States

Sovereign states are political entities that have supreme authority over a territory and are recognized as independent by other states. The video discusses how the UN interacts with sovereign states, particularly in terms of maintaining peace and regulating conflicts. The UN's role involves upholding the sovereignty of states while also promoting international cooperation and law. The script mentions that only two states are not part of the UN, which are Palestine and the Holy See.

💡International Law

International law refers to the set of rules and norms that govern relations between states and international organizations. The video explains that the UN plays a crucial role in developing and upholding international law, particularly through treaties. Treaties are agreements between two or more states or international organizations that are legally binding once signed and ratified. The UN Charter serves as a foundation for many of these treaties, which aim to establish norms of behavior and cooperation among states.

💡Treaties

Treaties are formal, written agreements between two or more parties, such as states or international organizations. The video uses the example of the Paris Agreement to illustrate how treaties work, where 192 parties agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Treaties are based on norms and are written down in documents that become legally binding once signed and ratified by the parties involved. The effectiveness of a treaty, however, can be debated if major powers do not sign, as exemplified by the Ottawa Treaty and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

💡Norms

Norms are the universally accepted standards of behavior, customs, and morals that guide the actions of individuals, groups, and states. In the video, norms are mentioned as the basis for treaties and international law. The UN Charter embodies these norms, which are then reflected in the treaties that member states sign and ratify. Norms help to establish a common understanding of what is considered acceptable behavior in the international community, contributing to global peace and cooperation.

💡Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping refers to the deployment of military troops by the UN to intervene in conflicts with the aim of maintaining peace and security. The video describes peacekeeping as a significant role of the UN, where member states offer military personnel who are then sent as UN peacekeepers. These troops wear blue helmets as a symbol of their UN affiliation and work to prevent conflicts from escalating and to protect civilians in conflict zones.

💡Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding is a longer-term process that involves various activities aimed at establishing sustainable peace after a conflict. The video explains that peacebuilding goes beyond the immediate cessation of hostilities and includes repairing relationships, reforming institutions, disarmament, ensuring fair elections, and implementing human rights. An example given in the script is the UN's involvement in helping Mali reform its police force to address issues of violence against women.

💡Humanitarian Aid

Humanitarian aid is assistance provided to people in need, particularly in situations of crisis or disaster. The video mentions the UN and its partner, UNICEF, providing humanitarian aid in the form of measles vaccinations to nearly 340,000 children in Mali during an outbreak. This example illustrates how the UN plays a crucial role in addressing immediate health crises and supporting the well-being of vulnerable populations.

💡UN Security Council

The UN Security Council is one of the six main organs of the UN and is responsible for maintaining international peace and security. The video mentions the Security Council as having a significant role, although it is not the main focus of the script. The Security Council consists of 15 members, including five permanent members with veto power, and plays a key part in authorizing peacekeeping missions and imposing sanctions on states that pose a threat to peace.

💡Palestine and the Holy See

Palestine and the Holy See are the only two states not part of the UN, as mentioned in the video. While the Holy See is a sovereign entity that holds observer state status at the UN, Palestine's status is more complex, with its recognition as a state varying among UN member states. The mention of these two entities in the script highlights the near-universal membership of the UN and the unique circumstances of these non-member states.

Highlights

The UN's role in regulating conflicts and maintaining global political order for sovereign states is part of the OCR A Level spec for Power and Borders.

The UN is a supranational institution with governance authority above sovereign states, established in 1945 with 51 countries, now grown to 193 member states.

Only two states, Palestine and the Holy See, are not part of the UN.

The UN develops international law through treaties, which are written agreements between two or more parties.

Treaties are based on universally accepted standards of behavior, customs, and morals, as outlined in the UN Charter.

The Paris Agreement is an example of a treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming to under two degrees Celsius.

The Ottawa Treaty (1997) was signed by 164 countries to ban the use and production of anti-personnel mines, but major powers like China, Russia, and the USA did not sign.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017) faced a similar issue with key nuclear powers not signing, questioning its effectiveness.

Peacekeeping involves sending military troops from member states to intervene in conflicts to maintain peace.

Peacebuilding is a longer-term process than peacekeeping, focusing on relationship repair, institutional reform, disarmament, and ensuring fair elections and human rights.

The UN helped Mali's police force reform by implementing a three-year national action plan to address issues of violence against women.

Humanitarian aid is a significant role of the UN, exemplified by UNICEF's response to a measles outbreak in Mali, vaccinating nearly 340,000 children.

The UN Security Council plays a crucial role in international peace and security, to be discussed in a separate video.

UN treaties and peacekeeping efforts are not always effective due to the refusal of some member states to sign or abide by them.

The UN's strategies and actions for maintaining peace and security include treaty development, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and humanitarian aid.

The UN's role in maintaining international law and fostering cooperation is essential for global stability and conflict resolution.

The UN's involvement in Mali demonstrates its practical applications in peacebuilding and humanitarian aid in crisis situations.

Transcripts

in today's video i'm going to talk about

the role that the um plays in regulating

conflicts and maintaining peace

and also maintaining the global

political

order in terms of sovereign states

this is part of the ocr a level spec for

power and borders

and i've highlighted the section that it

comes under in free point a

so

first of all we need to know that the un

is a supranational institution which

means it is a level of governance above

that of the sovereign state

uh it started out in 1945

post-war and there were originally 51

countries but it's grown

quite significantly significantly in

power and now is made up 193 member

states only two states are not part of

it palestine and the holy say

it's a very powerful organization and it

plays a very key role in conflict so

there are different ways

in which it tries to maintain

security and peace and

partly this is developing good relations

between nations it also has to try and

develop and uphold international law via

treaties which i'll explain in a second

and for foster cooperation so it's these

are the kind of main aims that it's been

trying to do

and it does this through a variety of

strategies and actions

so i talked about

international law and treaties well a

treaty

is essentially a written

international agreement in which

two or more parties here in this example

france india and the usa

have agreed upon so they they come up

with

an agreement

write it down and then

all agree to sign it

and it's when it's between two or more

states or international organizations

for example the eu can sign into

international

agreements what are just one example of

this that we might talk about before the

paris agreement that was signed by 192

parties and they all agreed to lower uh

greenhouse gas emissions and keep

temperatures below

two degrees of warming

so to actually get a treaty we need to

there needs to be something behind that

so treaties are based on this idea we've

already talked about on norms these

universally accepted standards of

behavior customs and morals and we find

those norms are actually written down

in the un charter so the un charter

obviously is a basis for where a lot of

the treaties come out of

once you actually sign the treaty like

jacob zuma is doing here you actually

are then bound by international law

signed and ratified means that that is a

a law

here's an example of a treaty that was

signed and how effective it was it was

called the ottawa treaty in 1997 and um

lots of the countries all the countries

in the bottom right hand corner they

decided that um to stop

um producing using and stockpiling um

anti-personal mines or what we would

otherwise known as like a land mine so

164 countries uh parties signed it uh

but unfortunately there were some big

countries that didn't sign it so we

could argue how effective is it if some

of the big political powers like china

russia and the usa don't sign it

similarly this was something that was

made effective this year even though it

was signed initially back in 2017 it's a

treaty on the prohibition of nuclear

weapons uh you can see if people are

very happy there unfortunately again it

was one of those treaties in which some

of the biggest nuclear powers the usa

china and russia didn't sign

so even though there are these treaties

some

united nations members can still refuse

to sign them and therefore they don't

have to kind of abide by them

another example of

a role that the un has that is beyond

treaties is the idea of peacekeeping so

this is where we send

military troops member states offer

kind of

military personnel and then they are

sent as u.n peacekeepers to military

intervene

into conflicts these are conflicts we're

going to have a look at in further

detail and further case studies but we

can see that these blue hats are a good

example of troops on the ground trying

to keep the peace

however peacekeeping and signing

treaties aren't the only ways i'm not

going to talk about

all the ways but another significant way

is to talk about peace building this is

slightly a longer term process than

peacekeeping and essentially it comes

incorporates quite a lot of ideas

but some of these ideas are really

important and largely talk a little

about relationships so

it can involve as we can see at this

table here

the un

helping conflicting groups repair

relationships it could be over a

sovereignty challenge it could be due to

a lack of resources or conflict of

resources but getting them to talk to

each other communicate and repair that

relationship

another issue which i'm going to talk

about a second is reforming institutions

so maybe in institutions like the legal

system or police force or army that are

slightly corrupt can be actually

reformed with the help of

un advisers to make them better

disarmament which basically means you

know removing weapons

the idea of getting rid of kind of your

military and kind of lots of the weapons

that you have can actually help promote

peace in the long term another example

would be maybe to ensure that elections

were fair not corrupt not rigged or that

human rights were

actually implemented in a country to

make sure everyone had a fair and equal

opportunity

an example of something that the un

actually involved with which relates to

another case study we're going to look

at is they helped the malian police

force which had some very significant

issues with

violence against women especially sexual

violence against women they came helped

them come up with a three-year national

action plan which you can see some of

the priorities in the bottom left-hand

corner they helped them implement it and

this was an example of an institution

being reformed

in a long-term process by the action of

the un working with the malian police

force

one of the most obvious ways that you

probably already know is humanitarian

aid again i'm going to use the example

of mali

we're going to talk about the conflicts

and challenges of sovereignty about mali

but

the measles vaccinations

after an outbreak of measles there have

been given by unicef so nearly 340 000

children have actually been vaccinated

due to the fact that they've had an

outbreak and um the un and the un

partner which is unicef can actually

give aid to them during this huge

measles crisis

one of the other major roles i'm not

going to talk about now but uh we'll put

a link to another video is the un

security council they have a really

significant and probably one of the most

important roles but i'm going to talk

about that in another video