As a student in the Model United Nations program (MUN) at Tustin High School, I've had the opportunity to closely look at and, to a certain degree, experience the workings of the UN. For each conference, usually hosted by a school, we are assigned countries to represent and committees to debate in for the duration of the conference. We then have to sift through the material available to us through books, periodicals, and the Internet to find out as much as we can about the topic or topics we have been assigned. We also research our assigned country's stand on the issue(s) at hand. After all this research has been turned into a paper that will be submitted for grading by the student or students in charge of the committee, we take the role of a representative to the UN from our country and debate, for which we receive points as well. At the end of the conference, the best delegates are recognized with awards.
Throughout my experience with MUN, I have been baffled by the amount of legislation passed by the UN. There is an astounding amount of it out there, and nearly all of it is almost completely ineffective due to the wording, unenforced by the international community, or both. For example, when keying in "death penalty" (a topic that isn't and hasn't ever been on the A-list of UN problems) to the Official Document System search feature on the UN website, over 1000 results come up, which is ridiculous, especially considering that the UN has only been around for the past 61 years. The situation is absurd. Why does the UN do this; to pass legislation and take a stand on almost every single topic and potential problem conceivable, only to back down with its tail between its legs when its decision is challenged? This scenario has played out countless times, and is currently running its course with North Korea and its nuclear weapons program as well as Iran and its nuclear program.
This inability to put their money where their mouths are is the fundamental problem with the UN. They want to do something about everything, but when it comes time to stick to their guns, they back down. And what's worse, the international community (correction: the US) sinks millions of dollars of dues into this expenditure while the problems the UN was created to address fester and grow exponentially worse day by day. It makes no sense as far as logic goes, but as far as determining the pulse of the international community, it reveals wonders. The leaders of the world are playing political chess, dodging problems instead of solving them. They are too scared to stand up for what they think is right and attempt to solve problems because they are scared of retribution from other nations, largely countries such as Iran, who do not possess the international power of countries like China and the US but are not afraid to speak their mind and actually follow through and attempt to do what they think should happen. And the role of the UN in this political quandary? Provide a forum for world leaders to figure out how to talk tough and do next to nothing.
All the UN is right now is an expensive three-ring circus where the West is continually embarrassed on the international stage by nations such as Iran and North Korea, as well as third-party extremist organizations such as al-Qaida and the Taliban while failing to address real problems. It's high time for the UN to grow a backbone and some fortitude and actually pass and enforce effective legislation or just take the act home.
