The+UN+should+exercise+a+more+independent+and+central+role+in+the+world.

=Resolved: The UN should exercise a more independent and central role in the world =


 * Meeting scheduled: **February 11, 2010**
 * At the bottom of this page is a discussion area
 * Feel free to add any of your comments that are needed to this page after the discussion box. Otherwise, place any sources you find in the correct sources area.

 The United Nations, founded in 1945, is the largest intergovernmental organization in the world. It represents 192 member states, including nearly every sovereign nation. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. The UN is divided up into five main "organs". The two most powerful organs are the General Assembly in which each member state receives one vote, and the security council which has five permanent members (US, China, Russia, UK, and France) and ten rotating members elected by the General Assembly every two years. The General Assembly operates under a "one state, one vote" power structure and they deal with topics relating to recommendations on peace and security; election of members to organs; admission, suspension, and expulsion of members; and, budgetary matters. None of the General Assembly's resolutions are binding to the sovereign nations though. The Security Council is the only organ that can make binding decisions such as creating peacekeeping operations.
 * Basics of the United Nations:**

The main functions of the United Nations include peacekeeping and security, human rights and humanitarian assistance, and economic and social development. Well-known peacekeeping operations have occurred in Kosovo, Rwanda, and Congo. The UN peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. In terms of human rights, the UN supports all countries to move towards more democratic governments. They ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, though it is not legally binding. In conjunction with organizations like the Red Cross, the UN provides food, water, shelter, and other humanitarian resources to populaces suffering from famine, displaced by war, or afflicted by other disasters. Each year, the UN publishes the Human Development Index (HDI). The UN helps prevent disease and provides education assistance in developing countries that normally do not have sufficient funds.

**Look at these websites for basic information about how the UN operates (feel free to add your own):**  The [|United Nations]  Website


 * [|UN Guiding Aims] as stated by the United Nations
 * [|UN Principles and Purpose]
 * [|United Nations] - from wikipedia

**__For the Debate:__** 

There are **__three__ **  major viewpoints that Americans take towards the UN:

Look at the options overview to read a brief summary of each option: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%; line-height: 19px;"> The rest of this packet will be handed out on Feb. 1, 2010, but if you do not receive this or loose it, ask Kevin Anglim for another copy.


 * Option 1 (strengthening the US role):**
 * [|Enhancing the US Leadership at the UN] [a brief summary of the book]
 * The book is actually free to read on google books [|here] [pp. 1-4 give a detailed executive summary]
 * [|The US plans to take more leadership] [The United State's plan to enhance their leadership in the UN and why they should]
 * [|Better World Campaign] [a UN sister organization designated to strengthening the US role in it]


 * Option 2 (increase the UN's power and influence):**
 * [|What Americans want in the UN] [summary of unusual results taken in a large survey]
 * [|World Public Opinion] [The actual survey's website]
 * [|Statistics] [The statistics from the survey]


 * Option 3 (scale back the UN):**
 * [|Get Rid of the UN][a blog article that speaks about corruption and the false sense of a worldwide "community"]
 * [|Time to get rid of the UN][an article from an Indian-based website that gives reasons for the scale back of the UN]
 * [|The UN is Inefficient] [Article from UK speaking about the changes in the world over 60 years led to the UN's inefficiency]
 * Most striking of all is former __US__ **__Ambassador__** __to the UN!!__, ** John Bolton's ** criticism of the United Nations:

media type="youtube" key="HyTmuCJ95Bk" height="364" width="445"

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 195%;">__Perspectives (go to__ Choosing your International Perspective <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 195%;">__):__


 * Realists ** would most likely agree with ** Option 1 ** because it would benefit their self-interests although they are skeptical that the UN can provide order in a world of anarchy.


 * Radicals ** would support ** Option 3 ** in a heartbeat, but not for the same reasons most Americans would not support this option. Radicals believe that the UN is only a way for the West and the major world powers to force their influence upon the little guy and use them for their own benefits. There is very little faith from Radicals towards the UN.


 * Liberals ** would strongly support ** Option 2 ** . International Organizations are part of the Liberal's theory that the world can be structured when all of the nations work together. The Liberals love the UN and believe that strengthening it would decrease wars and famine. The UN is central to Liberal belief.

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