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原題目題號：DSE-2014-Essay-06
在促進世界和平與合作上，聯合國取得了多大的成效？
背景 1945年成立的聯合國以促進世界和平與合作為其宗旨。 // 架構 然而，聯合國雖然在促進世界合作方面取得了顯著的成效，包括加強了國際社會在人口、環境和醫療等方面的合作，但卻在促進世界和平一事上作用有限，未能在冷戰、以阿和巴爾幹等衝突中發揮其維和的作用。 // 立場 因此，聯合國在促進世界和平與合作的成效是毀譽參半。
主旨句首先，聯合國在緩和冷戰一事上的成效甚微，未能有效促進和平。// 方法+成效雖然聯合國在冷戰時期嘗試調停資本主義和共產主義兩大陣營的敵對關係，但卻成效有限。例如在1948-49年的柏林危機時，當衝突涉及美、蘇等霸權國家時，聯合國的功能隨即被架空，未能介入以調停危機。此外，在1950-53年的韓戰時，儘管聯合國派遣聯合國軍支援南韓以對抗北韓，但卻導致了戰事的擴大化，因中國為對抗聯合國軍，也派出軍隊支持北韓，最終導致韓戰激烈化，戰爭最後只是因雙方僵持不下而宣告停戰。再者，在古巴導彈危機(1962年)時，雖然聯合國秘書長吳丹作為中介人以斡旋美、蘇的衝突，但危機的解決最終也是由美、蘇雙方透過秘密談判以解決，聯合國的維和作用也不宜高估。 // 小結可見，聯合國面對強國霸權的衝突時表現軟弱，未能在冷戰的衝突中扮演積極的角色，成效乏善可陳。
其次，聯合國在解決以阿衝突一事上也成效有限。為了解決猶太人與巴勒斯坦阿拉伯人的領土糾紛，聯合國在1947年通過了「聯合國巴勒斯坦分割方案」，在巴勒斯坦分別建立猶太國(以色列)和阿拉伯國。然而，聯合國的方案卻成為往後雙方衝突出現的要因，因方案將巴勒斯坦的56%土地劃予人口只有約35%的猶太人，相反，人口佔約65%的巴勒斯坦人只獲得43%的土地，令其十分不滿，不但否認猶太國的建立，更在獲得鄰近阿拉伯國家的支持下對以色列開戰，導致了1948-49年第一次以阿戰爭的出現。往後，雙方的衝突未有因聯合國的調停而終結，更於20世紀結束前再次爆發了四次戰爭。儘管至20世紀末，阿拉伯人放棄以戰爭方式對付以色列，但卻轉而至以恐怖主義方式進行，反而令世界陷於恐怖主義的陰霾中，而聯合國也難以阻止。可見，聯合國的方案不但促使以阿衝突的出現，其更未能阻止的戰爭的出現，使戰火不斷，成效有限。
再者，聯合國解決1990年代巴爾幹衝突上也缺乏成效。雖然聯合國於1990年代的南斯拉夫戰爭中扮演了積極的角色，嘗試協調衝突國家達成停火協議，又派遣維持和平部隊到巴爾幹負責監察停火和保護平民。然而，聯合國的成效甚微，因巴爾幹國家無視聯合國的斡旋，使戰事持續多年。此外，聯合國的維和部隊不但未能確保衝突雙方停火，甚至於波黑戰爭中被脅持作為人質(1995年)。最終，正正因為聯合國的無能，美國等大國轉而將制裁行動交由北約進行，於1995年轟炸塞族人的聚居地。至1999年科索沃戰爭時，西方國家甚至架空聯合國，北約在未有獲得聯合國授權就直接發動空襲，反映聯合國對於調停巴爾幹衝突的成效極為有限。可見，聯合國未能有效解決1990年代巴爾幹衝突，對於維持和平的成效甚微。
儘管聯合國在維持世界和平一事上乏善可陳，然而，其對於促進國際社會在人口、環境和醫療等方面的合作意義非凡，成效顯著。
其一，聯合國對於促進人口方面的合作貢獻重大。於1945年前，國際社會對於人口議題的合作鬆散，關注亦不足，忽視了人口劇增對資源和環境造成的巨大壓力。然而，至1945年聯合國成立後，聯合國積極促進各國在人口議題上的合作，例如成立聯合國糧食及農業組織(1945年)，增加各國在農業科技方面的交流，又為發展中國家提供資金援助，開創了國際社會在糧食方面建立組織性合作的先河。再者，聯合國又定期舉行會議以監察及討論人口議題，例如於1974年開始舉行了第一屆聯合國國際人口與發展會議，往後，聯合國每10年舉行一次國際會議，分別於1984年和1994年再次舉行了第二次和第三次聯合國國際人口與發展會議，確立了國際社會在解決人口議題上的會議體系。可見，聯合國對於促進各國在人口議題上的合作時取得了重大的成效。
其二，聯合國在推動環境合作一事上也取得了很大的成效。於1972年聯合國環境規劃署成立前，國際社會大多只是依靠非政府間的組織，例如國際自然保育聯盟(1948年)以推動環境保護的工作，缺乏政府間的大規模合作。然而，至1972年聯合國環境規劃署成立後，其成為了政府間負責統籌環境工作的專責機構，大大促進了國際社會在環境上的合作，包括舉行會議以集合世界各國共同應對環境議題，例如於1992年里約地球高峰會的參與國就多達172個。此外，聯合國亦促進了會員國逐步合作以解決環境問題，例如在全球暖化問題上，聯合國先於《氣候變化綱要公約》(1992年)，要求各國自行減少排放溫室氣體，再到《京都議定書》(1997年)時規定已發展國家進行減排，建立了規模化的合作。可見，聯合國為國際社會在環境合作一事上揭開了新的一頁，成效顯著。
其三，聯合國在促進世界醫療合作一事上也取得了重大的成效。於1948年世界衛生組織成立前，國際間在醫療上的合作較為鬆散，例如1918年出現「西班牙大流感」，大多國家都是各自為政，未有建立系統性的合作。然而，至1948年聯合國成立了世界衛生組織，其對於促進各國在醫療方面的合作意義非凡。於世衛成立後，其統籌國際社會在醫療和衛生方面的合作，例如在1967年開展全球疫苗接種計劃以對付天花病毒，最終使天花於1980年在全球絕跡。此外，各國以世衛作為中心，互相交流疾病的資訊，例如當1997年香港出現禽流感時，世衛隨即向其他國家發出警報，有助遏止傳染病的傳播，反映世衛建立了國際間良好的通報機制，當一發現病毒時迅速通知其他國家。可見，聯合國大大促進了國際社會的合作，是醫療及衛生史上的重要轉捩點。
總括而言，雖然世界在20世紀下半葉沒有爆發大規模的戰爭，但聯合國在促進和平一事上的確乏善可陳，對於解決冷戰、以阿和巴爾幹等衝突時均成效不足。然而，其對於推動國際社會在人口、環境和醫療等方面合作一事上則舉足輕重。整體衡量之下，聯合國在促進世界和平和合作的成效是一般，功過參半。
How successful was the United Nations in terms of promoting world peace and cooperation?
The objectives of the United Nations which was established in 1945 were to preserve world peace and foster international cooperation. It had made remarkable achievement in fostering international cooperation, including strengthening cooperation in population, environmental and medical aspects. However, its effectiveness was quite limited in preserving world peace. It failed to practice its peace-keeping function in disputes including Cold War, Arab–Israeli conflict and Balkan conflict. Therefore, the effectiveness of the United Nations in preserving world peace and fostering international cooperation was to be as much praised as blamed.
Firstly, the United Nations had limited effectiveness in alleviating the Cold War and failed to preserve peace. Although the United Nations tried to arbitrate the hostility between capitalist and communist blocs during the Cold War, its effectiveness was limited. For instance, in the Berlin Crisis in 1948-49, when facing the conflict concerning hegemonic countries like the US and Soviet Union, functions of the United Nations could not be performed and it failed to arbitrate the crisis. Apart from that, in the Korean War in 1950-53, the United Nations sent the United Nations Command to support South Korea in resisting North Korea. However, this led to an increasing scale of war as China also sent troops to support North Korea in the face of the assistance provided by the United Nations. As a result, Korean War turned white-hot and the war ended under the situation that both parties refused to budge. Furthermore, in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations, acted as a middle person to mediate the conflicts between the US and Soviet Union. However, the resolution of crisis was based on the compromises among both parties secretly and hence the peace-keeping force of the United Nations could not be overestimated. This showed that in the face of conflicts among the hegemonic countries, the United Nations was weak and failed to play an active role in the Cold War. The effectiveness was limited.
Secondly, the effectiveness of the United Nations in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict was limited as well. In order to solve the territorial disputes of Jews and Palestinian Arabs. The United Nations passed the UN Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947. Both a Jewish state (Israel) and an Arab state were set up in Palestine. However, the plan implemented became the major reason for the occurrence of conflicts among both countries. In the plan, 56% of Palestine was given to Jews which accounted to 35% of overall population. On a contrast, Palestinians, which accounted to 65% of population, only received 43% of land. This sparked great dissatisfaction among Palestinians. Not only did they refuse to recognize the establishment of the Jewish state, they declared war to Israel under the support of nearby Arabian countries. After that, the conflict did not end under the mediation of the United Nations. Four wars broke out before the end of the 20th century. By the end of the 20th century, the Arabs gave up using wars to fight Israel. Instead, the attack was carried out by ways like terrorism. It pushed the world under the shadow of terrorism and it was even harder for the United Nations to deter such actions. This showed that the proposal of the United Nations not only facilitated the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli conflict, it failed to deter wars. This showed that its effectiveness was very limited.
Furthermore, the United Nations lacked effectiveness in solving the conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s. The United Nations played an active role in the Yugoslavia wars in the 1990s and tried to help the conflicting countries to reach armistice. Also, it sent peace-keeping forces to monitor the armistice and protect civilians. However, such effectiveness was limited as the Balkans states ignored the mediation of the United Nations. As a result, wars continued in many years. Apart from that, the peace-keeping forces not only failed to ensure that the conflicting parties ceased fire, they were being threated as hostages in the Bosnian-Herzeguvinian War (1995). As a result, because of the ineffectiveness of the United Nations, powers like the US handed the sanction to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO bombarded the populated place of Serbia. In the Kosovo War in 1999, the Western countries even neglected the United Nations. NATO directly launched air strikes without gaining permission from the United Nations. It reflected that the effectiveness of United Nations in arbitrating the Balkans conflicts was very limited. This showed that the United Nations failed to effectively solve the Balkans conflicts in the 1990s and had limited effectiveness in preserving peace.
The United Nations did not perform well in preserving world peace. However, it had significant meaning in fostering the cooperation within the international community in aspects like population, environment and medicine. It had significant effectiveness in that.
Firstly, the United Nations contributed a lot in fostering cooperation in population issues. Before 1945, the cooperation of international community towards population issues was rather loose. Countries did not pay much attention and neglected the problem of soaring population creating immense pressure to resources and environment. However, after the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, the United Nations actively promoted the cooperation of countries in population issues. For instance, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1945) was established which increased the interflow of countries on agricultural technology. Also, it provided capital assistance to developing countries and started the cooperation of international community in food issue by setting up organization. Moreover, the United Nations regularly held conferences to monitor and discuss population issues. For instance, in 1974, the First International Conference on Population and Development was held. After that, an international conference was held by the United Nations in every 10 years. The Second and Third International Conference on Population and Development were organized in 1984 and 1994 respectively. This set up a system that the international community used in solving population issues. This showed that the United Nations had great effectiveness in fostering countries to work on population issues.
Secondly, the United Nations had great effectiveness in promoting environmental cooperation. Before the establishment of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972, the international community was mainly depending on the cooperation of non-governmental organizations, such as International Union for Conservation of Nature, to promote environmental protection. Large scale cooperation among governments was insufficient. However, after the establishment of the UNEP, it became a specialized organization which was responsible for organizing environmental work between governments. Cooperation on environmental issues in the international community was greatly fostered. It included the conferences organized so as to join the forces of countries to deal with environmental issues. For instance, in the Earth Summit in 1992, the participating nations amounted to 172. Other than that, the United Nations solved problems by the gradual cooperation among member states. For instance, in the problem of global warming, the United Nations set up the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992). It demanded countries to voluntarily reduced the emission of greenhouse gases. Also, the Kyoto Protocol (1997) demanded the developed countries to reduce emission. Standardized cooperation was established. This showed that the United Nations opened a new page in the environmental cooperation of the world. Significant effectiveness was shown.
Thirdly, the United Nations had huge effectiveness in fostering the medical cooperation in the world. Before the establishment of the World Health Organization in 1948, countries had a rather loose cooperation in the medical aspect. For instance, flu pandemic broke out in 1918 in Spain. However, countries only focused on their own work and failed to establish a systematic cooperation. However, the United Nations set up the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. It had great significance in fostering medical cooperation of countries. After the establishment of WHO, it coordinated the cooperation in the fields of medicine and hygiene. For instance, in 1967, Global Vaccine Action Plan was launched so as to deal with smallpox virus. As a result, smallpox can be totally eliminated in 1980. Apart from that, WHO is a center for countries to interflow information about diseases. For instance, when the avian flu broke out in Hong Kong in 1997, WHO alerted other countries and this could deter the spread of infectious diseases. It reflected that WHO had set up a comprehensive notification mechanism in the international community. Once a virus was found spread, other countries would be notified within a short period of time. This showed that the United Nations greatly fostered cooperation among international community and it marked a turning point in the history of medical and hygiene.
To sum up, there was no outbreak of large scale war in the world in the late 20th century. However, the United Nations had limited effectiveness in preserving peace, and had limited effectiveness in solving conflicts like Cold War, Arab–Israeli conflict and Balkan conflict. But it still played a significant role in fostering cooperation in population, environmental and medical aspects. In an overall view, the effectiveness of the United Nations in preserving world peace and fostering international cooperation was to be as much praised as blamed.
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