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Show Ad The Salt Lake Tribune NATION/WORLD Sunday, May 28, 1995 U.N. Turns 50: New Woes in A New World home to haunt the world now. In reality, the real power brokers of the world’s collective se- @ Continued from A-1 “What's there now is probably just enough to prevent the worst from happening,” said Sir Brian Urquhart, longtime U.N. diplomat and now scholar at the Ford Foundation in New York. “But there's not a hope in hell it can makea dentin the really big problems: conflicts, poverty, environment, women’s rights, unemployment.” Funds UnderAttack:Its credibility damaged by disastrous peacekeepingfailures such as the one in Bosnia and growing pover- ty and disease in countries where U.N. projects have spent millions of dollars, the organization's finances noware underattack, too. The United States, its biggest donor, is cutting peacekeeping contributions by a fifth. And the Republican-controlled Congress wants to cut even more. Various bills are moving through Congress that would reduce the U.S. share of peacekeeping costs to practically nothing, eliminate funds for such U.N. agencies as the International Labor Organization and reduce contributionsto all others except the popular UNICEF. None of the bills has yet passed Congress and reached Clinton's desk. In hopes of swaying Congress,a British diplomat and a German diplomatleft their U.N. missions in New York a week ago and madea rare appearance on Capitol Hill. Their mission was untrumpeted and low-key — they metonly with congressionalstaffers — but they departed as troubled as they came “The perception in Congress is different, andit is very difficult to changethat perception,” the German diplomat said. ‘Somehow the distance between New York and Washington is greater than the geographic distance.” Also being questioned is whether the United Nations can take eredit for preventing a third world war — one that probably would have been fought with the deadly atomic weapons developed to end the previous one. “President Roosevelt would be very pleased; it has prevented a third world war,” said former Minnesota Gov. Harold Stassen, 88, the last living U.S. signatory of the charter. While crediting the United Nations with serving as a crucial safety valve during Cold War years, Finnish Ambassador Max Jakobson (once a candidate for secretary-general) calls it a “stretch” to assumethatif not for the United Nations, world leaders would have “unleashed” atomic weapons during disputeslike the Cuban missile crisis On one thing, however, every- one agrees: The United Nations mustbe reformed. Worried about its existence, it struggles to do so. site Spheres: Plunged immediately into a Cold Warthat few foresaw, the United Nations was hamstrung from the start by the division of the five superpowers into two political spheres and their parceling of the rest of the world. In the process, even the poorest nations were armed with deadly weapons, a horror coming T)# | { Keeping RCE around eRe) curity were not those five perma- nent members of the U.N. Security Council, but the military alliances: NATO, representing the free world, and the Warsaw Pact, representing the communists. Meanwhile, the 51 delegations that gathered here originally swelled by dozens, and the noble concept of each country having an equalvoice soon clogged the organization with politics. “The U.N. is a forum for consensus-building, not decisionmaking, and there-inlies its weakness,’ said a diplomat from India. Flush with money nonetheless, the organization spawned a bureaucracy of hundreds of new agencies, commissions and missions with a modus operandi that UNICEF Deputy Director Richard Jolly labels “globaloney.”” Perks Galore: U.N. headquarters, staffed by 7,000 people, became a desirable employer with its generous benefits and filled with people who were, in the words of one worker, “the sister of the brotherof the king's chauffeur.” Even today, new employees start work with six weeks paid vacation and nine days of holiday leave. All workersreceive “‘excellent” ratings in job evaluations, no matter their performance. Many clamor to serve abroad on temporary civilian staffs in peacekeeping missions because they get a generousliving allowance in addition to their salary. Incompetence and inefficiency now seem inbred. Every document is translated into the six official U.N. languages — at a cost of $800 a page — and every official meeting staffed by translators, evenif only English is spoken or no one requests a translation. Even so, the situation probably is no worse thanin mostlarge bu- Tinea eSB accom atch ion olanOe) Bete) peacekeeping missions, 21 of them launched within the past'sevenyears. There _now.are 16.in-operation. Seema Recut aos erieae es COME ana teETar aes 0: Sri) ee eeuaise in Tajikistan as perro aot iae Pas muy Sr . emactis Steg Military Observer erate Saeed : Gea eetee a 39 BR ea . Toners Seems Ree me) acm sgeckeeeleeret ls eeyaera ea ferent) ACR eles BeteeoGrol feyeeeniezat Cet F eeeSer outsignificant successes. i forte eI nicer memereste + erates co aR 18. Serres Penile theeee c Se cee crit elena Rts) Sentoes eiseeeie Baetclit uateeee SEPA) SsteresNORE Cosette (ite Teesearam A time for keeping peace eeae » : - i aes es Ter eee} ecm See ea Military Observer Groupin India and Pakistan Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus i Personnel fara Disengagement Observer Force in the ‘Middle East interim Force in Lebanon Observation Mission in faq-Kuwait iT Te Ue U.S. role in U.N. peacekeeping ACR R Lore Beiraia [Kern eens x PereaCeROReeMNeCAUR Empires Strike Out: Most overlooked, says Finland’s Jakobson, is the role it played in dismantling the colonial empires that prevailed 50 years ago. The Trusteeship Council, one of the five arms,virtually has putitself out of business: There are only 2 million people nowliving in territories or colonies compared with 780 million then. Experts agree the United Nations servedas a crucial forum for face-saving and soundingoff during the Cold War; created volumesofinternationallaw regulating vital issues such as use of atomic energy, air travel, postal standards and protection of the oceans(the United States has yet to sign the Law of the Sea Convention) and the ozonelayer. U.N.health organizations have been responsible for eradicating smallpox and immunizing 80percent of the world’s children against the majorfatal diseases of childhood. With its international conferences and treaties, it has kept on the front burner importantsocial issues such as population, child welfare, humanrights and povert y. Then, of course, there is the most visible success of all: the Persian Guif War. RvR gel a Reser Uae eeeeer ach! eaeca : CorrCUMS ClaraMercierTremereels emer} reaucracies, said Joseph Connor, a formertop executive from Price Waterhouse broughtin a year ago to streamline and downsize. Norhas the agency been with- : Serntons ‘Angola Veritication Mission iM a fh ions. Before President Clinton intervenedin Haiti.« Tete Um CeO eRe Tele cae, Ment elite ern De Rmsare Veet Number of countries contributing ‘9 Location i eumhseaka eteenceeany ote4 Observer Mission in Georgia INOS Oberver Mission in-tiberia (i a | Assibtancé Mission in. Rwanda: i eeeUe Srnec) a rary civilian pollce 4 peers a roto hc REEceease ere [SEN Fannett stunning victory — with the unprecedented cooperation and agreementof the members of the Security Council — brought a surge of public confidencein the United Nations that Stanford University scholar Abraham So- faer believes may have “set it up for a fall.” The United Nations never has taken well to talk of reform. When Dick Thornburgh, former U.S. attorney general, spent a yearthere at the request of Presi- dent Bush,his critical report and recommendations were “deepsixed.” A supporter nonetheless, Thornburgh believes the United Nations “can reform itself — and from within.” “The potential is there and the talentis there, but first you've got to clear away 45 years of debris,” Thornburgh says. “The United Nations is being asked to be the world’s 911 emergency number and it can’t handlei FREE COLON CANCER SCREENING To take part in a Research Study to test an investigational topical ointment on patients with plaque psoriasis. June & July only SEEKING VOLUNTEERS AGES 50-80 FOR COLON POLYP STUDY INTERESTED PERSONS MUST MEED STUDY CRITERIA TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR SCREENING Surge of Confidence: The ANDERSEN DIDN'T BECOME AMERICA’S FAVORITE PATIO Door WITHOUT FREEDOM OF CHOICE. Comeyil be nacre & compensation for time and travel to appointments. conclusion. 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