Daily Times

League of Nations and United Nations were both found when mankind was on the step to realize that war is a waste of money, army, troops and most of all it causes people to loose their loved ones. Both of the organizations played their role and United Nations is still playing as the chapter of League of Nations came to an end on 20th April 1946. League of Nations and United Nations have a huge role in the history after 2 major wars.

League of Nations was formed on 10th January 1920. The organization’s primary goals included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and diplomacy. The first meeting of the Council of the League took place on 16 January 1920, and the first meeting of Assembly of the League took place on 15 November 1920. In 1919 U.S. president Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel peace Prize for his role as the leading architect of the League. There were 42 founding members of League of Nations. However United States didn’t join which is quite ironic as the whole idea of the organization was designed by president Woodrow Wilson. This can be justified as the United States senate voted against it. Japan withdrew in 1933; Italy withdrew in 1937, while Germany quit in 1933. The Soviet Union was banned from becoming a member of League of Nations, as it was a communist state at the time. Only 23 members out of 42 remained in the organization until it was dissolved in 1946. Brussels and Geneva were the two cities competing to become the seat of the new organization. The final decision in Geneva’s favour was influenced by President Wilson, who favoured it primarily because of Switzerland’s neutrality. Despite these early successes, the League of Nations was unable to manage and to prevent neither the invasion of Manchuria by Japan, nor the annexation of Ethiopia by Italy in 1936, nor that of Austria by Hitler in 1938. The powerlessness of the League of Nations to prevent further world conflict added to its demise from 1940.

League of Nations was a prestigious organization that provided a platform for all of its members to talk and discuss world order. The top elite policy makers and leaders from around the world used to gather and share ideas and discuss on steps for a better and secure environment for the civilians living all across the globe. As Stephen Wertheim said ‘as a profession and a practice, international law thrived in the 1920s. The League established institutional sites that were both new subjects of law and new fora where lawyers participated ‘ in 2012. The league however lacked the necessary military power. It did not have any joint military group that could have intervened in a conflict. It also lacked the participation of United States that played a major role in the decline of League of Nations. That being said, League of Nations was the first step by the policy makers at the time to make a platform to discuss security and economy of the world. It was a positive step that played a decent role in the history. However, League of Nations could not prosper as much as it should have and it could not succeed in its primary role that was preventing war and armed escalation.

After the World War 2, to prevent further escalations, to stop the war all across the globe and to act as a replacement to the League of Nations, United Nations was formed on 24th October 1945. The headquarters of the United Nations is located at New York, United states of America. United Nations consists of an armed military group that acts as a peacekeeping force. The first peacekeeping operation was called as United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF 1) that began in 1956 to address the Suez crisis. There are three basic principals of peacekeeping that should be acted upon come what may.

The first rule is the consent of the host country. This means that the country in which United Nations is going to work needs to have a permit issued by the local government. This reduces chaos and acts as a catalyst in working. The second rule is to stay impartial. A United Nations official has to always stay impartial and not take sides during any conflict between 2 groups. This reduces the risk of being attacked by anyone from one of the parties. The last rule is the minimal use of force. This means that a United Nations official can never use any weapons however the situation might be serious unless it is for self-defense.

United Nations is an organization that is well structured and is more effective than the League of Nations. United Nations has a huge participation from countries all across the globe. The leaders meet during the United Nations General Assembly conference and work to resolve issues and problems. The United Nations Security Council has 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. The permanent members have the power to veto any resolution. It is a debatable issue, as Ahmad Medhat said the abuse of veto power should be stopped. The non-permanent members’ votes on any draft resolution should be regarded and taken into consideration in a way to confront the tyranny of veto on April 2020.

In a conclusion, League of Nations and United Nations were formed because of the same reason to end war and suffering. We as humans needed a platform to discuss our issues. League of Nations unfortunately didn’t have the due leadership, participation and the required military power to tackle with the situations. On the contrary United Nations has the required budget for its conferences and for its military. Some people argue that United Nations was not successful in many cases such as the Balkan crises and the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India. Having all that said, United Nations is indeed a powerful and an effective organization and plays a major role during humanitarian crisis and conflicts.

The writer can be reached at mhamza252@hotmail.com