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United Nations as A Liberal Accessory

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The existence of the United Nations on the international continues to elicit more debates.

The agency’s effectiveness if constantly debated with realists and liberals arguing against or in

favor, respectively. The UN was established to safeguard international peace and security,

promote human rights as well as guarding international law. Each department under the UN is

provided for by respective articles of the UN Charter (Tarasov and Achamkulangare, 2015, p. 4).

For instance, the Security Council is charged with the primary responsibility of maintaining

peace and security. Its membership comprises of fifteen nations, out of which the United States,

the United Kingdom, Russia, France and China maintain their seats as permanent members

(Andersen, 2019, p. 48) On the other hand, the General Assembly in charge of most of the

administrative functions such as supervising operations of the UN Secretariat and approving

budgets. Arguably, the United Nations has developed into a disordered and realist structure that

inhibits it from proper decision making and development (Lemay-Hébert, 2017, p. 469). Realism

theory focuses on politics imposed by human nature and non-existence of international

government. On the other hand, the liberalism notion is based on the grounds that state and non-

state actors both play a role in the development process guided by the democratic principles of an

international order. As such, realism is considered a power theory to attain objectives and

liberalism encompasses a balance of power between nations. The essay supports the position of

United Nations as a liberal accessory by highlighting the institution’s role in promoting

economic interdependence and supporting member state sovereignty and equality.

The first point to support United Nations as a liberal accessory is based on how the UN

supports democratic governments and economic interdependence, as well as collective security

alliances. The United Nations came into existence in 1945. Its core principles are stipulated in

the Charter which encompasses a multifaceted set of rules for effective functioning of the
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institution within an international setting, bringing about peacefulness that the members states

anticipated (Chanda, 2017, p. 5). Based on the liberalists position, economic interdependent

contributes to peaceful international relations since states engaged in trade relations comprehend

the mutual benefit of trade. As trade continues to expand, the states are held by economic

dependency (The General Assembly, 2017, p. 3). From a liberal perspective, military security is

not always a priority because economic interdependence heightens the value of trade over war.

Still, the cost of war is always high, whereas trade allows respective nations to grow their

economies. As such, the economic gains have a major impact on one government’s foreign

policy towards others (Kwarteng and Frimpong, 2018, p. 50). It also determines the decision to

use military power in case of conflict. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

has been on the forefront of supporting global economic interdependence which has grown

exponentially due to technological progress and policies focused on opening up economies for

internal and external competition (Chanda, 2017, p. 8). The application of technologies facilitates

trade between nations unlike before World War II where was seen as the best way to gain

interest. However, today, advanced communication and transport means enable people from

different nations to trade and gain interest in several countries.

Another point that supports the United Nations as a liberal accessory entails sovereignty

and equality. Inequality is a critical problem for an international organization such as the United

Nations. Increase in inequality threatens state sovereignty, and that would mean the United

Nations failed to maintain world order, usually, developing nations are considered weak in

relation to their developed counterparts (Andersen, 2019, p. 49). The existence of the United

Nations and its various agencies provides an equal ground with many of its agencies distributed

across various nations. The UN General Assembly as the major policy making organ grants each
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member state the power if equal vote and voice in the policy making process (Tarasov and

Achamkulangare, 2015, p. 11). Small states often form blocks to increase their bargaining power.

For instance, the Group of 77, was formed with goal of promoting the collective economic

interest of developing nations and enhance the negotiating capacity of the 134 developing

countries. The Group of 77 has the collective power to represent the developing nations’ interests

and prevent the developed states from dominating the UN system (Ansong, 2019. 46). UN

institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spearhead the

agency’s efforts to promote social and economic equality by establishing frameworks for

economic cooperation, especially in developing states.

Supporters of the realist position argue that the United States and its scope have become

increasingly withdrawn from the people, and instead shifted towards being more government-

led. The assertion is realist in nature is also supported by the fact that there are nations such as

India, Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa that are regional powers and strategically

located, yet they are not considered for a position in the Security Council (Federo and Saz‐

Carranza, 2020, p. 348). The situation is caused by the five permanent member states that hold

veto power and thus are not likely to be deposed their privileges. Although this claim seems

unfair towards some member states of the UN, it can be countered by a liberal argument

affirming that the creation of creation of positions within the constituent bodies of the institution

minimizes instability and resettles the atmosphere of international lawlessness (Bode, 2018, p.

293). While this is certainly detrimental, since it interferes with the actual objectives of the

United Nations, it also creates disagreement among the “neglected states” (Federo and Saz‐

Carranza, 2020, p. 353). Opponents of the liberal theory also criticizes the UN’s collective

security idea. They maintain that United Nations failed by settling for the principle of sovereign
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equality among member states. They hold that the organization is not effective because not all

states are willing to commit their military in cases of destabilization of peace, even when their

crucial interests are not at stake. The criticism of UN being a liberal accessory are interlinked

with the sensitive topic of military intervention. Nonetheless, the position can be countered based

on the fact that the United Nations operates based on the sovereignty of member states,

recognizing a clear difference between external activities of a given state and the domestic

jurisdiction.

While the realist view hold that states are the major players within the United Nations

systems and that each state has its own interests and willing to acquire power through different

means, it fails to explain the significance of modern international systems. Economic

interdependence has emerged as contributor to international peace (The General Assembly,

2017, p. 4). UN organs such as the IMF, DESA and World Bank continue to support economic

interdependence between member states. Looking at the United Nations as liberal accessory

shows how the organization is optimistic in terms of morality, ideology and cooperation are the

aspects that influence behavior and interests of states (Engel et al., 2017, p. 177). The UN is a

liberal accessory because it does not ignore the national interests of each member state, rather it

focuses on ensuring the interests are achieved by creating an environment where member states

can work through multilateralism.

Overall, the United Nations have been a key player in promoting international peace

since its formation. Considering that the international system is constantly transitioning, the

United Nations has emerged as a liberal accessory effective at ensuring a balance between

member states. Its effectiveness cannot be doubted, considering the limitations within which it

has to perform its mandate. As a liberal accessory, the UN focuses on a win-win situation which
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minimizes international conflicts as members depend on each other. Furthermore, the United

Nations binds member states socially and politically through trade and international law as a way

of maintaining democratic peace. Nonetheless, it is necessary to highlight that as a liberal

accessory, the UN allows states to use military force in sovereign defense and safeguarding

human rights.
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References

Andersen, L.R., 2019. Curb your enthusiasm: Middle-power liberal internationalism and the

future of the United Nations. International Journal, 74(1), pp.47-64.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0020702019833739

Ansong, A., 2019. Decision-Making in the International Monetary Fund: Implications for

Sovereign Equality of States. Journal of Legal Studies, 23(37), pp.44-66.

https://doi.org/10.2478/jles-2019-0004

Bode, I., 2018. Reflective practices at the Security Council: Children and armed conflict and the

three United Nations. European Journal of International Relations, 24(2), pp.293-318.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066117714529

Chanda, T.C.L. 2017. Globalization and interdependence: role of the United Nations in

promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence: Report of

the Second Committee. UN Digital Library 1-23.

https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1326176/files/A_72_422_Add-1-EN.pdf

Engel, S., Pallas, J. and Lambert, S., 2017. Model United Nations and deep learning: theoretical

and professional learning. Journal of Political Science Education, 13(2), pp.171-184.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2016.1250644

Federo, R. and Saz‐Carranza, A., 2020. A typology of board design for highly effective

monitoring in intergovernmental organizations under the United Nations

system. Regulation & Governance, 14(2), pp.344-361.

https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12216
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Kwarteng, N.K. and Frimpong, A.A. 2018. Empirical Illustration of Major Theories of Realism

and Liberalism in International Relations. International Affairs and Global Strategy, Vol.

66. 49-51. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234671094.pdf

Lemay-Hébert, N., 2017. Exploring the effective authority of international administrations from

the League of Nations to the United Nations. Journal of Intervention and

Statebuilding, 11(4), pp.468-489. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2017.1385238

Tarasov, G. and Achamkulangare, G. 2015. Cooperation among the United Nations regional

commissions. 3-66. UN Digital Library.

https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/817126/files/A_70_677%26E_2016_48-EN.pdf

The General Assembly. 2017. Towards a New International Economic Order. 1-5. UN Digital

Library. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/857723/files/A_RES_71_236-EN.pdf