An ideal world would have no problems, but as this is not an ideal world, the United Nations was formed to fix the problems of the world. The United Nations was founded in 1945 after the failure of the League of Nations to prevent World War II. Many felt that the war could have been avoided if the League of Nations had been more effective at mediating disputes and had the power to stop aggressive nations. The UN’s branch that is charged with maintaining international peace is the United Nations Security Council. The Security Council has five permanent members: the United States, the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China, the former USSR, and France. The Security Council has the ability to pass resolutions to member states to prevent global instability. However, the UNSC has not been better at stopping disputes and preventing conflict because the Council lacks a method of enforcement and substantive actions can be blocked by vetoes.

The permanent members of the Security Council have the ability to veto resolutions passed by the Council. An example of the power of vetoes is when Syria was plunged into a civil war in 2011. The UN responded to the Syrian use of violence against the civilian populace with a resolution that condemned the government of President Assad and would have imposed sanctions on the government. However, Russia and China used their ability to veto to deny the Security Council the ability to punish the Syrian government for their actions. This use of a veto prevented the Security Council from stopping multiple human rights violations. Another example occurred in 2004 when fighting erupted in Gaza between Hamas militants and Israeli Defense Force soldiers. Urban warfare ravaged the Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of over 100 civilians. The Security Council attempted to pass a resolution to condemn the Israeli government for its unrestrained violence in a built-up urban area, but Israel’s ally, the US, vetoed the resolution. The competing national interests of the nuclear powers crippled the Security Council’s drive to prevent and stop human rights violations.

The United Nations has not been able to enforce any of the resolutions they pass. The Council relies on peacekeepers from member nations to go “keep the peace” in conflicted areas. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was such an instance when UN peacekeepers were deployed to stop conflict and provide humanitarian aid to the people of Rwanda. The peacekeepers were deployed to protect targets of the genocide, such as the Prime Minister of Rwanda. Ten Belgian peacekeepers were killed while guarding the PM, horrifying the Belgian people that their soldiers were dying overseas for a cause that meant very little to them. The Belgian government withdrew its troops from Rwanda and severely crippled the ability of the UN peacekeepers in Rwanda to protect the people from the genocide. The ability of the UN to respond to crises depends on the generosity of other nations to lend troops for the peacekeeping missions. These factors show the inability of the Security Council to stop events due to competing national interests of UN members.