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The session led off with a brief review of the structure of the United Nations (UN) and the role of its principal bodies (all located in New York):
1) the General Assembly, with its annual and special meetings of all members;
2) the Security Council (SC) with its 15 members focusing continually on international peace issues; and
3) the Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, which executes (or coordinates the execution of)
the decisions of the UNGA and SC and makes recommendations to those bodies.
The United Nations and Terrorism
Even before 11 September 2001, the UN was dealing with terrorism issues. The
earliest conventions promulgated by the General Assembly date from 1963 and
dealt with airplane hijackings and the safety of civil aviation. Other later
conventions related to hostage taking, protecting nuclear material, marking explosives (to facilitate detection), etc. A Convention about terrorist bombings was approved by the General Assembly in 1998 and one related to the
financing of terrorism in 2000. The US Government made no effort to ratify
these agreements and obtain implementing legislation until after September
11th.
The Security Council passed a resolution in 1992 establishing sanctions against Libya related to the downing of the PanAm flight over Scotland. In
1996, the Council passed a resolution establishing sanctions against Sudan
for its support of terrorist activity. In 1999, sanctions were voted in the
Security Council against the Taliban for not turning over bin Laden and closing his training camps.
The UN also established a Counter-Terrorism unit in Vienna, Austria as part
of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention which was established
in 1997; this unit has served primarily as an information clearinghouse on
techniques for preventing and/or countering terrorist activity. In the Millennium Summit Meeting of the General Assembly in September 2000, the
leaders of the countries of the world in their Millennium Declaration resolved "to take concerted action against international terrorism, and to
accede as soon as possible to all the relevant international conventions."
The day following the 9/11 attack, both the General Assembly and the Security
Council issued resolutions condemning the attacks, expressing condolences to
the victims and their families and the people and government of the United
States, and urging international action to bring to justice those responsible
and to take measures to prevent further terrorist activity. The Security Council went further and defined international terrorism as a threat to the
peace, thereby giving victim countries the right to take unilateral action
against terrorism as a self-defense measure. The Security Council's resolution (# 1373) also spelled specific actions that countries were
expected to take.
The UN's actions received little press in the U.S. because the media was focusing on the invocation by the U.S. of Article V of the North Atlantic
Treaty which states that an attack on one member shall be considered an attack on all members. Thus, European countries and Canada, after the 9/11
attack, provided help to the U.S. to protect its borders. Since Article V
was originally included in the Treaty at the request of the Europeans so that
the U.S. would automatically be involved if there were attacks on any
European member of NATO, U.S. invocation of the provision was considered more
newsworthy.
The Security Council issued another Resolution (1373) on September 28 setting
forth additional actions that should be taken by member countries to prevent
and suppress terrorist activities, with special emphasis on freezing funds
and taking other actions to cut the supply of money for financing terrorist activity. The Council established a special counter-terrorism committee to
monitor countries' responses to its resolutions and called upon all States to
report to the Committee within 90 days (and later on a timetable to be established) on the steps taken to implement the resolution.
On November 12, the Security Council followed up with Resolution 1377 reiterating countries' responsibilities set forth in previous resolutions and
offered to provide assistance to any country needing it, inviting such countries to get in touch with the Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. In
other words, the Council was heading off countries' excuses that they didn't
have the capacity to deal with terrorism. Over 100 countries reported to the
Committee within the 90-day deadline -- an unprecedented response.
The United Nations and Nationbuilding
Traditionally, nationbuilding referred to the efforts of former colonies and
other less-developed countries to develop modern political structures and develop self-supporting economies. In recent years, however, the term has
been used more in relation to UN peacekeeping operations and the need to "re-build" societies after conflict, often internal conflict. In this
context, nationbuilding involves restoring: Internal Security, Social Structures, Political Structures, and the Economy.
To be able to make progress in any of these, it frequently is necessary to
carry out a major relief and resettlement program.
The UN and its affiliated organizations, with the support of individual countries in most cases, has carried out a number of successful
nationbuilding missions and is still doing so in a number of former "hot spots." Afghanistan currently demonstrates what all is involved. The UN
helped organize the meeting in Bonn of the various Afghan factions which resulted in an interim government and a process for moving to a new political
structure. Under UN auspices, peacekeepers have been provided by some member countries and they are deployed in the Kabul area -- they will probably be
needed in other areas.
The UN is taking the lead in organizing the return of refugees from neighboring countries and "displaced persons" who have moved to other parts
of Afghanistan to get away from fighting. Their return to rural areas is complicated by the fact that there has been a drought for about four years
and many do not have any seeds to sow even if conditions are good this year.
Many will return to planting the opium poppy as a way of making money.
In the urban areas, there will be a need for jobs -- the economy must be re-started. The educational system needs to be re-vamped and re-started.
Similarly, the health system need to be restored -- or created. There are UN
agencies involved in all these activities. Often their funds are grossly inadequate for the job and the difference is made up by bilateral and
multilateral aid programs. The UN organized a donor meeting to get pledges
for Afghanistan's reconstruction -- perhaps one should say resurrection. Private voluntary agencies/nongovernmental organizations, are frequently essential partners -- being the implementers of programs, particularly at the
grass roots level.
Participants in the session were provided with information about materials
that are available for teaching about the UN; a set of the information materials displayed has been made available to World View. The participants
expressed an interest in also knowing how to access good sources of information about current developments in the rest of the world -- they felt
that what is provided by the U.S. media is inadequate and frequently biased.
Sources suggested by the speaker were the following:
UN Wire -- provides an e-mail report of the day's headlines related to
international (not just UN) issues (Monday through Friday), with the stories
available online. To sign up, go to: www.unfoundation.org
World Press Review -- a monthly news magazine sponsored by the Stanley
Foundation, the Review is published as a nonprofit, educational service to
foster the exchange of information. It contains material from the press outside the U.S., e.g., the January 2002 issue had press articles from almost
20 countries. To subscribe, contact World Press Review, P.O. Box 228, Shrub
Oak, NY 10588-0228 or call (914) 962-6292.
BBC World News -- a one-hour program on Public Radio at 9:00 a.m.; also a TV
version at 11:00 p.m. on PBS.
For questions about the foregoing or UN publications and teaching materials,
you can contact Mr. Roush at JLRoush@aol.com.
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