Rwanda and Bosnia & Herzegovina. 12 The United Nations had been aware of
human rights violations in Bosnia, such as the massacres which occurred in
Srebrenica, but did not act. As a result, widespread human rights violations and
murders occurred without UN action, and those within the organization who
consciously prevented UN involvement received promotion rather than punishment. 13 A comparable situation occurred in Rwanda, where over eight
hundred thousand individuals were murdered before humanitarian intervention
stopped it. It is said that in this situation the UN was overly cautious and too restricted by member states to intervene, 14 and as a result genocide was allowed
to be perpetuated without international action. It is of course impossible to say
whether action would have prevented or reduced the conflicts damage, but inaction guaranteed that it could occur, 15 and for that the UN cannot be seen as enormously successful. Even the Gulf War, often considered one of the UNs greatest successes in the post-Cold War era, 16 cannot be seen as an absolute
success for the organization, as the UN Charter offered an array of opportunities
to prevent conflict. These were not taken - military action was almost immediate,
which has caused massive long-term negative impacts on the region’s economy
and human rights record. Its domination by the US military also ensured they
could take much of the praise for its successes, while allowing the UN to take criticism on a collective level. 17 It is hard to deny that the UN’s failures and
criticisms regarding military and humanitarian intervention overshadow its
numerous successes in scope.
12 Kennedy, p. 95 13 Adam LeBor, “Complicity with Evil,” The United Nations in the Age of Modern Genocide (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 124; LeBor, p. 255 14 Michael N. Barnett, Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002), p. 155; Barnett, p. 167 15 Barnett, p. 168 16 Barnett, p. 9 17 Whittaker, p. 99
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