Cold War haunts UN hopes<\/p>\n
The following is an excerpt from a statement made by
\nIndonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas at the commemorative
\nmeeting of the Security Council on the occasion of the 50th
\nanniversary of the United Nations on Sept. 26, 1995.<\/p>\n
NEW YORK: It may be recalled that the United Nations was born
\nwhile humankind was still recoiling from the horrors of World War
\nII. The international community, determined to \"save succeeding
\ngenerations from the scourge of war,\" endeavored at the San
\nFrancisco Conference fifty years ago to create an international
\norganization that would be able to prevent such calamities in the
\nfuture by establishing the political, economic and social
\nconditions for a new, more peaceful and safer world. An important
\npart of that task -- the maintenance of international peace and
\nsecurity -- was entrusted to this Security Council.<\/p>\n
The high hopes that the international community invested in
\nthe United Nations, however, were soon overcast by the shadow of
\nthe Cold War. The lofty intentions of the UN Charter could no
\nlonger be fully realized in a world split into two rival military
\nand ideological blocs locked in a struggle for dominance.<\/p>\n
In this Council, a sense of higher responsibility and common
\npurpose among its members had been presupposed, but time and
\nagain the Council would be paralyzed precisely because the major
\npowers could not achieve unanimity. As a result, the Council too
\noften failed to take decisive action to resolve conflicts and its
\nresolutions were frequently defied or ignored. The super-
\nimposition of East-West rivalries on the deliberations of the
\nCouncil rendered even unanimously approved resolutions
\nunimplementable. In the process of eliciting the support of the
\nPermanent Members, resolutions often became diluted to the point
\nof being pious declarations or futile exhortations. The excessive
\nuse of the veto further paralyzed the Council.<\/p>\n
But it cannot be denied that even during the Cold War era, the
\nSecurity Council did manage to bring about some measure of global
\nstability by limiting the scope and intensity of conflicts.
\nWorking with the secretary-general, the Council provided
\nmodalities for conciliation and mediation, good offices and fact-
\nfinding, true observation and quiet diplomacy. Time and again the
\nCouncil would formulate guidelines for the solution of complex
\nproblems and substitute dialog and negotiations for armed
\nhostilities. Many a cease-fire arranged by the Council paved the
\nway to a political settlement. And if admittedly the Council
\ncould not resolve the most dangerous problems of that time, it
\nnevertheless kept them from breaking out of control. It certainly
\nprevented the escalation of regional conflicts into global
\nconflagration which, considering the capacity of the major powers
\nfor mutual nuclear devastation, could well have brought humanity
\nto the brink of extinction.<\/p>\n
With the end of the Cold War, a new era in the search for
\npeace has dawned. Breakthroughs have been achieved in long-
\nstanding conflicts in some countries and regions. On a number of
\noccasions in the recent past the Permanent Members of the
\nSecurity Council have recognized the international
\nresponsibilities inherent in their status and have shown a
\ncapability for united action never seen before. We are thus given
\na glimpse of what the Council could achieve if it could be made
\nstrictly faithful to the vision of the UN Charter. Equally
\nheartening, cooperation between the permanent and non-permanent
\nmembers has also improved.<\/p>\n
Still, the lessons of the past 50 years are clear. We are
\ncalled upon to further strengthen our institutions and to adopt
\nmore effective and innovative approaches to the prevention and
\nresolution of conflicts. We have to recast the Charter's concept
\nof collective action for peace and security so as to render the
\nUnited Nations more capable of carrying out its primary function.
\nWe need to devise a more viable system of collective or common
\nsecurity in which all member states can participate in accordance
\nwith their respective capabilities. In this way, the burden of
\nmaking the world better and safer for all will be equitably
\nshared by all.<\/p>\n
The General Assembly, the Security Council and the secretary-
\ngeneral should assume their respective, complementary roles in
\npreserving the peace as mandated by the Charter. Peacekeeping
\noperations have to be armed with a clear mandate and provided
\nadequate means, including financial, to fulfill their missions.<\/p>\n
Indeed, in this context it is of critical importance to come
\nto grips with the serious financial crisis that the organization
\nis facing, without which all our endeavors to maintain
\ninternational peace and security would grind to a halt. Concepts
\nof peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace building and preventive
\ndiplomacy need to be adapted to the new realities, especially in
\nview of the qualitative changes that have occurred in the nature
\nof conflicts. Questions relating to the future use of powers
\nvested under Chapter VII of the Charter call for a collective
\nrethinking on the basis of insights derived from recent
\nexperience.<\/p>\n
The profound changes that have taken place during the past 50
\nyears should now be reflected in the Security Council. An
\nequitable and balanced expansion of the permanent and non-
\npermanent membership of the Council, coupled with reforms in its
\nworking methods and procedures, would render the Council more
\nresponsive and relevant to prevailing geopolitical realities and
\nmore open to the participation of small and medium-sized states
\nwhich constitute the majority of the organization. It would also
\nbe timely and pertinent to review the manner in which the veto is
\npresently exercised with a view to mitigate its arbitrary use and
\nto ensure a more democratic decision-making process.<\/p>",
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