The United Nations : problems and reform of the organisation

Abstract

The United Nations is the world's main multilateral, intergovernmental organisation. The membership is almost universal. The organisation has existed since the end of the Cold War and has recently provoked increasing interest in its structure, functioning and responsibilities. This has led to the emergence of a highly disputed topic connected to the problems of the institution as well as a conviction and desire to transform the organisation into a more effective multilateral mechanism. However, besides the degree of consensus that reform of the United Nations is increasingly required, there has also been a high level of disagreement amongst states and controversy closely linked to the topic. Thus, after almost a decade of minor reforms and continuous efforts to achieve a more effective and representative institutional structure, the main problems and issues are still the hot topic of the international society's agenda. The next couple of months will show if any of the latest reform proposals are actually going to result in any meaningful transformation. It seems that time has come for Member States to make a significant decision for both themselves and the international community as a whole. My interest in the topic has grown as a result of the high degree of differing and controversial views that stem from the debate on the issue. Thus, I got genuinely interested in tracing the roots and fundamentals of this debate in order to find out why the reform process has spanned over such a long time without any particular success. This has provoked a number of important questions and my interest in the matter led me to select this topic for my dissertation as part fulfilment for my degree.