Dear Editor,
The current crisis in Ukraine has once again highlighted the failure of the United Nations, in particular, the Security Council, to prevent wars and conflicts. The United Nations Charter is being flagrantly violated and there is seemingly very little, if anything, that the UN can do about it. The difficulty has to do with the composition of the Security Council and the veto powers enjoyed by the bigger powers such as China, Russia and the United States. These countries have different political and ideological interests to defend and it is only natural that they will utilize their veto powers when such interests appear to be under threat.
The solution, in my view, is to change the structure of the United Nations to make it more democratic in terms of decision-making especially on matters of war and peace. The Security Council should be re-configured to make it more representative of the full membership. The veto power should be abolished as it is only a recipe for gridlock rendering the body something of a ‘toothless poodle’ in terms of conflict resolution. Moreover, the United Nations peace-keeping force should be strengthened militarily to be in a position to effectively deter attempts by any ‘rogue’ nation that may be inclined to take action in contravention of the UN Charter and in violation of international law.
History will not take kindly to those who, by their silence or inaction, allow for the slaughter of innocent people on the altar of some perceived national or security threat. The current situation in Ukraine has led to one of the biggest and most depressing humanitarian crisis in recent history. The sad thing is that there is no indication at the moment that a solution is anywhere in sight. The worrying question is: how many more lives have be lost, not to mention the destruction of property and infrastructure, before something is done to bring this madness to an end?
Sincerely,
Hydar Ally
