Is the United Nations an Ineffective Institution?
Some international institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have evolved to become better and more effective over time. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the United Nations (UN) which has become an ineffective institution of global governance. The irony is that the UN has become busier than it was some years ago, yet the deliberations made in the frequent meetings have contributed little to help the institution meet its core objectives. The rationale behind the assertion that the UN has become an ineffective institution is the fact that there has been a growing deterioration of the factors that the institution was initially established to fix. One of the main functions bestowed on the UN following its establishment was the prevention of more wars and suffering on a large scale. Unfortunately, millions of people have died in a span of about 50 years since the establishment of the UN as a result of war. The continued strife in Libya, the ever growing North Korea crisis, distress caused by militia groups such as the Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram in Africa and the continued emergence of more terrorist groups such as ISIS, are just some of the examples that prove the UN’s failure in in its role as a global peacekeeper. Additionally, UN has failed in its environmental conservation role through its UN environment branch. This is evidenced by the continued increase in carbon emissions and global warming.
Violation of Human Rights Continues Despite UN's Efforts
Another key objective of the UN has been the promotion of human rights globally, yet the violation of human rights continues to be witnessed on a devastating scale. Notably, the UN was formed in 1945 shortly after the end of world war II, yet horrific violations of human rights by various regimes continued to take place nonetheless. For instance, the civil wars in central Africa and the Balkans, and the Rwanda genocide happened in the 1990s while the UN was still in operation. In addition, recent evidence has shown that some groups of people are reviving slave trade in Libya, which, needless to say is a gross violation of human rights. The fact that UN has become ineffective in preventing human rights violation is attributed to, among other factors, the fact that the voting rights in the UN have no links to a regime’s human rights record. As a result, some countries infamous for human rights violation such as China continue to sit on the UN security council. The number of refugees continues to grow as a result of the rampant civil strife in different countries globally. Europe, for instance has seen a dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers while refugee camps such as Kakuma in Kenya continues to expand. By 2015, about 250,000 people had been killed in Syria since 2011. Moreover, the escalation of conflicts in Yemen, South Sudan, Mali and Iraq forced tens of thousands of people to flee these countries in hope of a better life in Europe. These are just some of the heartbreaking events that prove that UN has become ineffective impressing the need for sound reforms and development of more strategic measures.
Winners and Losers of Globalization
Q1. Biggest winners and losers to globalization and why
Globalization is hailed as a milestone that has benefitted a large number of countries, institutions and individuals as well. however, while some groups have benefitted significantly from globalization, there are others that have lost. Generally, it is believed that globalization has fostered two groups of winners in the past two decades. These two groups are the very rich individual san those in the middle class of emerging economies. In efforts to find out who are the winners and who are the losers of globalization, the world bank conducted household surveys in at least 120 countries. The household surveys covered the period between 1988-2008. Notably household surveys illustrate the level of income or consumption nationally. Combining data collected from these surveys gives a depiction of global income distribution. The global income distribution data indicates that those at the top of the global income quadrant and the persons in the middle class of emerging economies have been the biggest winners. This group comprises about a third of the global population. Specifically, those at the top of the global income distribution have realized about 60% increase in their income in the last two decades since the onset of globalization. As of 2008, the 50th and 60th percentile of the global distribution income comprise mostly of Chinese and Indians and they too fall under the category of some of the biggest winners by virtue of globalization.
Graphical Representation of Global Income Distribution
Graph.1. below is a graphical representation of the global income distribution drawn from the data collected by the world bank in the household surveys in over 120 countries.
Source: (Milanovic, p2)
Those in 75th and the 90th percentile of the global income distribution are considered to be the biggest losers relative to globalization. Groups in the percentile are considered to be the biggest losers because their real income gains in the cause if the last two decades, from 1988-2008 was nil. The group of people who fall in the 75th and the 90th percentiles are those in the upper middle class. They include citizens from wealthy or developed countries whose incomes have remained stagnant, people in Africa and a large number of people from communist countries such as Latin America. The change in global income distribution has been quite dramatic since the fall of the Berlin war to the global economic meltdown of 2008. These events among others have caused a radical reshuffle in the global income distribution causing people from developing countries to become better off and making those in the middle class to become richer. Nonetheless, a proposition that has been made by various stakeholders is the creation of a global currency. Having a global currency, the determination of the winners and losers to globalization will be done more efficiently regardless of their country of residence.
Works cited
Milanovic, Branko. "The Real Winners and Losers of Globalization." Let's Talk Development. N.p., 2012. Web. 9 June 2018.
