Multilateral Diplomacy in the United Nations - Essay in International Relations

Relations among the nations of the world are complex. This is because different countries pursue different agendas which sometimes support opposing issues. These opposing needs of nations have led to conflicts among the different nations. Such conflicts have in the past led to world wars. Nations finally agreed to come together so that they can improve the relations among themselves. They decided to come together so that they can pursue their goals without necessarily causing conflicts among themselves. They also came together to ensure that they assist each other in solving the various international issues that collectively affect different nations of the world. Different nations across the world, therefore, worked together to create the United Nations so that they can meet over time to solve pressing international issues.

The United Nations employs diplomacy in solving various international issues. Diplomacy refers to the way in which nations or states relate to one another and carry out their legal and political issues and transactions. All these transactions are possible because the different nations transact through authorized agents. The emergence of these interconnections among states has enabled different governments to use diplomacy to champion for their national and international interests as well as to limit conflicts between the states. Relations among states and nations have greatly improved since the end of World War II (Multilateral Diplomacy, n.d.). As a result of these complex relations, governments have resorted to the use of multilateral arrangements as well as multilateral structures to build strong links among them. Multilateral diplomacy came into active play at the end of the World War II when it was formalized and more institutionalized. This was made possible through the creation of a good framework through the United Nations.

States and nations across the world have been able to come together to build themselves and closely knit their relations through the existence of the United Nations. The United Nations has played a role in making states across the world cooperate and work together. Its major role is to assist different nations to solve various issues that affect them in an amicable manner. These issues are majorly international issues, and they affect a number of nations. There is a need to address international issues especially the conflicts among states before they get out of hand. Multilateral diplomacy thus enables diplomats sitting in the United Nations to address those conflicting issues (Mingst, Karns & Lyon, 2017). Diplomatic resources have helped the United Nations to reduce the cost of war and armed conflicts. The United Nations has therefore dedicated itself to addressing and solving international issues to ensure that human rights are not infringed and to ensure that conflicts are resolved. This organization has succeeded in using multinational diplomacy in solving many issues, and at the same time, it has been able to address some of the international issues affecting states. The use of multilateral diplomacy has therefore contributed to making the world a peaceful place.

Multilateral diplomacy as a tool of addressing international issues that surround human life is not an easy task for the diplomats. It involves two elements. These are; It takes into consideration the position that the countries are taking on a given international issue and the process that the diplomats will use to reach an agreement on that issue. This nature of multinational diplomacy makes the activities of the diplomats in the United Nations more dynamic (Multilateral Diplomacy, n.d.). Multilateral diplomacy is, however, a complicated process because one or more countries usually are pushing in one direction while another nation or several other nations are pulling in a different direction.

The United Nations has involved itself in solving many international issues including; politics, environmental issues, security issues, and economics of the different member nations, social values, refugees, food security and human rights of different people across the world. Since the end of the second world war, countries in the world have been able to come together to end conflicts among themselves. The United Nations has used the tool of multilateral diplomacy to ensure that countries reduce disputes amongst themselves. Through this tool, the world has finally achieved a general state of peace.

Different nations across the world have understood the cost of war and conflicts among themselves. This has made them join the United Nations to allow them to use multilateral diplomacy to avoid conflicts with their neighbors. Countries that always have conflicts with their neighbors have been unable to progress economically (Mingst, Karns & Lyon, 2017). War has adverse effects on the people of those countries. The United Nations uses its creativity in solving different war issues.

Incidentally, the superpowers such as the United States of America, The Soviet Union, China, and France were not in good terms among themselves. This was fueled by the tensions that were brewing up in the European and Asian continent. This led to the emergence of a Cold War among the superpower countries. This threatened the existence of the United Nations since the superpower countries were instrumental in its formation. The United Nations went an extra mile and launched a peacekeeping mission in these conflicting countries. This peacekeeping mission involved preventing, containing and moderating the hostilities that existed between the states. Order was achieved through the use of lightly armed multinational forces that helped in maintaining peace and order in the conflicting nations (Mingst, Karns & Lyon, 2017). Incidentally, the multilateral forces were used in the Middle East in solving the conflicts that were generated as a result of decolonization that came into play during the Cold War in 1948 to 1988.

The United Nation also exists to solve many issues that surround the effects of nuclear revolution. Nuclear creation has been an international issue that has really bothered the United Nations. The United Nation was demoralized by the use of two atomic bombs in the year 1945 since they had just signed the UN Charter about the use of nuclear bombs. The use of the nuclear atomic bombs introduced a scientific and technological warfare that would impact the lives of the people. This would have led to more destruction than the world than World War II. The use of atomic nuclear in Japan was an effort to disarm the United Nations agenda for the world. The use of nuclear weapons is an international issue that the United Nations organization is struggling to address in the world to date. There are unending talks about the use of nuclear weapons in the world, especially from the Asian countries. The United Nations have seen this issue as a threat to the security of the post-World War II world (Itallie & Gagain, 2017). The United Nations organization has become a platform where world leaders talk to each other on matters about nuclear weapons, disarmament and arms control. The United Nation has also become a hub in which leaders of the world encourage each other to devote themselves to peace and restrain from the use of harmful and dangerous weapons.

Environmental challenges in the world have also been put to the hands of United Nations. States across the world discuss the different emerging issues affecting the environment. The United Nations organization has been tasked with addressing the issues facing climatic changes in the world. The United Nations started addressing the climate change in the Stockholm Conference of the year 1972. The conference addressed the issue with the developing countries commenting that the industrial countries contribute a lot to the increased proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The developing countries, therefore, demanded that the developed countries reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that they emit into the atmosphere. These climate change issues and negotiations were hit hard with the emerging differences between the North and the South (Multilateral Diplomacy, n.d.). The United Nations has therefore been on the forefront to reduce these disparities and to negotiate with all the nations on how industrial countries can reduce the amount of air pollutants emitted to the atmosphere.

The United Nation prides itself on shaping the politics in the world. Since the superpower nations established good relations, the United Nations has continually worked hard to change the politics of the world. The Cold War came to an end in the 1990s, and this was achieved through the efforts of United Nations. The end of the cold war meant that nations could efficiently cooperate with each other. The UN was then pressurized to deal with issues that would aid in improving peace and security. As a result, it was requested to organize post-conflict elections, in Nicaragua, Namibia and other places. It was also asked to end human rights violations in El Salvador. The UN was also tasked with the role of overseeing humanitarian relief in countries like Somalia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. All these are political issues that the UN has addressed. It has also addressed issues of democratization, human populations, refugees, food security, women empowerment, and water (Itallie & Gagain, 2017). The United Nations, through the use of multilateral diplomacy, has been able to assist nations to address various issues.

However, there are some international issues that it cannot address. These issues include international business relations and other economic transactions among the nations in the world. Multilateral diplomacy has not been able to address the issue of business relations. This is because business transactions between two or more nations depend purely on the trust they have with each other. The UN does not have a role in negotiating business transactions among the nations. It also does not have a high influence on the issue of international economic relations (Mingst, Karns & Lyon, 2017). International economic relations rest squarely on the international bodies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The United Nations has greatly contributed to matters of international economics and development aid. However, these global issues cant be adequately addressed by the United Nations because of the nature of the negotiation process (Mingst, Karns & Lyon, 2017). These problems can be handled through the use of bilateral diplomacy as opposed to multilateral diplomacy.

In conclusion, it is clear that the United Nations use of multilateral diplomacy has assisted very many countries across the world. It has assisted in solving conflicts between one or more countries, and it has also enabled the different countries to come to a middle ground. It has also aided in resolving various environmental issues, and it is currently working to find common ground on matters of nuclear materials. It has however not been able to address issues of economic transactions and business relations due to the nature of their negotiations. However, the UN should be supported, and more countries should join the organization to ensure that their matters are solved fairly and amicably for the common good of all stakeholders involved.

References

Itallie, V., & Gagain. (2017). Script of a Model United Nations. Preparing for A Model U.N Model.

Mingst, K., Karns, M., & Lyon, A. (2017). The United Nations in World Politics. The United Nations in The 21St Century.

Multilateral Diplomacy, n.d. The...