The Un at Sixty Three: Problems and Prospects of Reforming a Veteran

Abstract

The United Nations Organization has completed more than sixty-three years of existence. In these six decades, the world has moved far ahead, and power calculations have changed. The days of bi-polarity ended with the demise of the Cold War. International politics, though unipolar in nature at present, is showing tendencies of multi polarity. Globalization has introduced a new economy of free trade in the world. In this altered international political and economic milieu, demands for restructuring the United Nations, which is guided by an old, mostly outdated charter, have been gaining ground, particularly after the end of the Cold War. But reforming the United Nations would not be very easy, because amending the Charter is extremely difficult, and requires political consensus among members, which is not easily achievable. However, minor reforms that do not require the amendment of the Charter may be introduced to make the United Nations more adept to face today's challenges. The present paper analyzes the problems and prospects of the reform proposals, and shows that there is a gap between the hope and the reality.