Thursday, June 2, 2016
GDBB 6 - The UN's Post-2015 Development Agenda & Leadership
Use one of the current events sources linked at http://svhs-hwc-fall2016.blogspot.com/2016/06/approved-sources-for-hwc-current-events.html to find at least 2 recent news article that relate to, support, or refute Brown & Weiss's assertions about the future of the United Nations. Your comment should include the titles of and links to the news article. Then, briefly summarize these articles with an explanation of how these sources relate to the arguments presented in the briefing book. Don't forget to check your rubric for evaluation criteria!
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The first article supports the Great Decisions article by describing the changes that should be made to the United Nations. The United Nations was founded in 1945 in order to help nations around the world. However, the UN has several problems that will need to be addressed in the future. First of all, the distribution of power is unequal within the UN. In the future, a peaceful agreement must be reached between the many who argue that more power should be given to the General Assembly and those who argue the contrary. In addition, the corruption within the system must be managed. Finally, through many financial crises that the UN have faced, they have come to the understanding that spending cuts must be made and that debts should be paid back. Overall, the UN has several changes that must be made in order to work to it’s full capability. (“United Nations” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/3159028.stm)
ReplyDeleteThe second article describes the opinions of the United Nation’s Secretary General Kofi Annan and the main change that he thinks needs to be made in order to allow the UN to continue operating. He begins by describing a recent decision made regarding Iraq, Liberia, and the DRC. Although the decision was made and the plan of the UN was put into action, some residents of those countries had complaints regarding the plan. In return, Secretary General Annan states that in the future the UN will allow other countries involved to state their beliefs and feelings on the matter. All in all, the UN has hope of a prosperous future. (“UN looks to its future” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3112059.stm)
The two articles support the analysis of the UN’s future as mentioned in “The UN’s post-2015 development agenda and leadership” by Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss. The articles agree that there are many changes not only in the decisions of the UN but also in the leadership. First of all, as Browne and Weiss state throughout their article, money must be managed in a more suitable manner. In addition, all of the articles describe that more opinions should be applied in the decision making process. In essence, when the problems within the system are fixed, the UN will thrive.
This article gives an update on where the world stands on reaching the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put in place in September 2015. So far not much has changed since the SDGs were started since it have not even been a year. Although not much has come of the goals themselves, the poverty rate, child hunger rate, and number of people without clean drinking water have all been declining within the last decade. Even thought those three issues have been controlled they still have a long way to go. Other issues such as child obesity, air pollution, and preventable diseases have not made any progress in the past few years. Overall, it seems that while some problems are being solved there are new ones appearing. (“The U.N.’s Rundown of Some of the World’s Biggest Problems http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/07/23/486924567/the-u-n-s-rundown-of-some-of-the-worlds-biggest-problems)
ReplyDeleteThroughout his presidency Obama has made an effort to help refugees and his plan is to continue allowing large numbers of emigrants into the United States. Obama’s current system will push the number of Syrian refugees up to 10,000 by the end of September. The main argument from people who disagree with Obama’s plan is that radical Islamic people would be able to get through security and into the country. The Homeland Security Secretary assured the public that the proper security measures are in place to prevent militants from entering the US. The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has said that 7% of Syrian refugees have not been granted entry to the US after failing to be cleared by security. It has also been estimated that 78% of the immigrants are women and children. In the end, the seemingly unnecessary concern from citizens has reduced the number of Syrian immigrants allowed into the United States. (“U.S. Is On Target To Accept And Resettle 10,000 Syrian Refugees” http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488896247/u-s-is-on-target-to-accept-and-resettle-10-000-syrian-refugees)
The article “The UN’s post-2015 development agenda and leadership” uses multiple pages to explain the SDGs and the plans to put them into action. “The U.N.’s Rundown of Some of the World’s Biggest Problems” was written soon after the goals were put in place, and the article provides updated information about how close the world is the reaching the SDGs. Although the Syrian refugee crisis fits into almost all of the important sections of the UN, including peace and security, human rights, and humanitarian action, it was not thoroughly discussed in “The UN’s post-2015 development agenda and leadership”. However, the article “U.S. Is On Target To Accept And Resettle 10,000 Syrian Refugees” reviews Obama’s plan to assist the refugees and to urge other countries to do the same.
U.S. proposes U.N. approve 4,000 strong force for South Sudan’s Juba
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reuters.com/article/us-southsudan-security-un-idUSKCN10I12S
The UN has been working on helping secure South Sudan and its capital and has recently be proposed to by the US to place more peacekeepers on the ground. Sudan was against this and tried to block efforts. Fighting in the capital Juba broke out at one point with the president's men fighting the ex-vice president's men. There were group attacks on women and girls that Sudan denies. An arms embargo has been threatened for South Sudan so they do not start a civil war. The UN has pressed for regions around South Sudan to deploy troops to protect the region.
Obama will bypass Congress,seek U.N. resolution on nuclear testing
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/08/04/obama-will-bypass-congress-seek-u-n-resolution-on-nuclear-testing/
President Obama has essentially run around Congress to try and push the UN for banning of nuclear weapons testing. The UN has responded by saying it would like senate to ratify the treaty, but would look into it. This has upset congress because it almost appears to circumvent their say. The use of the UN in this way was not how it was meant to be used. After Congress’s anger the UN has stated that Congress should be the ones to agree on the treaty.
The first article does not expand on the UN systems in general, but does oppose Stephen Browne and Thomas G.Weiss’ arguments that the UN does not do much because of how they are organized. This article shows an example of how the UN responded to the violence in South Sudan. The author of the article goes on to say how the UN has involved other countries in the region to help out. The second article while not directly the UN’s decision making shows how an organization of global scale need to be there for global issues, but maybe should not be instead of individual countries governments. The UN’s reluctance to do anything with Obama’s request does show what the authors of “The UN’s post-2015 development agenda and leadership” were trying to say when they pointed out the slow decision making of the UN as a whole. The UN suggested the US take the Treaty back to congress, but they never directly told them that the issue should be resolved within the US government. The first article illustrates the UN getting involved in other countries and opposes Browne and Weiss’ views that the UN is dysfunctional as of now. The second article shows the UN’s reluctance to take a stance on whether to allow Obama to go around congress with his treaties and laws or to reject this maneuver.
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ReplyDeleteThe United Nations' most important task is promoting and keeping world peace, which can sometimes be a tremendously hard task, which is what the first article I chose discusses. The article talks about a current situation in South Sudan, which happens to be the youngest country. This country is now well into a civil war that has endangered thousands of civilians. Because of this, the United Nations came to a resolution where it's committee voted 11-0 for sending troops to South Sudan to protect these civilians that are in danger of losing their lives or families. These actions from the United Nations were opposed to by the South Sudanese government, who does not agree with what United Nations and is doing all it can to resist this. This resistance opens the doors to a possible war between soldiers deployed from the United Nations and South Sudanese soldiers.
ReplyDelete"U.N. Bolsters Peacekeeping in South Sudan Despite Government’s Objections"http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/world/africa/united-nations-mission-south-sudan.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FUnited%20Nations&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection
The second article I chose discusses the United Nations' actions against North Korea's rocket launches recently. These rocket launches were seen by many as a threat to the world, and because of this, China, the United States and the United Nations have come to a resolution to punish North Korea, which would see North Korea have tougher sanction imposed on it. Although the United States and China have been in conflict about this issue and how the response should be, this act shows that the United Nations and these two countries were able to come up with a proper response to this issue.
"US, China draft new N. Korea sanctions"
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/2/25/us-china-draft-new-n-korea-sanctions.html
Both of these articles related to and supported Stephen Browne's analysis on how much effort the United Nations put in to ensuring world peace. The first article shows how the United Nations had to deal with an issue in South Sudan that put innocent lives in danger and the world peace in danger. This article supported how Browne said that the United Nations job is in fact very hard. The second article does the same thing by supporting Browne's assumption that the United Nations is an important factor in promoting world peace by showing that even with a threat such as nuclear weapons, the United Nations, along with the U.S and China were able to get rid of this threat. These two articles further explore the importance of the United Nations in promoting world peace.
The first article discusses Ban-Ki Moon’s proposal for a female Secretary General. Ban-Ki Moon is the current UN Secretary General from South Korea, who will have served a total of ten years at the end of his term. Moon is in support of having a female Secretary General, and currently there are 6 male and 5 female candidates who are running for the position. The Security Council will select the final candidate they fill fit to be the Secretary General, and then if the candidate is approved by the General Assembly, he/she will become the Secretary General. When selecting a Secretary General in the past, each Secretary General has come from a different part of the world, which is why East European countries are looking for their chance to become Secretary General. Moon believes that many women have the characteristics to be a successful Secretary General, so he has proposed a woman earn the position. However, ultimately the choice comes down to whoever the Security Council and General Assembly feel is right for the position. (Ban Ki-moon: 'My replacement should be a woman' http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/ban-ki-moon-replacement-woman-160816073712820.html )
ReplyDeleteThe second article discusses the UN’s attempts to find a solution for the increasing amounts of refugees and migrants seeking assistance. The article explains how the UN has been unsuccessful in developing a plan on its own, and it is now looking to hold a meeting in September, so that world leaders can discuss the refugee crisis. The article also explains that the goals for the meeting are rather vague, and that there is no explanation for how the UN will meet the goals. There have been attempts to fix the refugee problem such as, reducing the number of refugees needing homes by 10%, by having countries commit to taking in refugees, however the attempts have failed. The article also explains how many countries struggle/refuse to take in more refugees because they fear the refugees due to stereotypes placed on different religions and ethnicities. The placement of many refugees and migrants has not even neared a solution. (“Stuck in Platitudes on Migration Crisis http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/opinion/stuck-in-platitudes-on-migration-crisis.html?_r=0 )
Both articles support ideas from, “The United Nations Post-2015” by Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss. In “The United Nations Post-2015” Browne and Weisse discuss how the next Secretary General has a high possibility of being a woman, and from Eastern Europe. They also discuss how the UN is struggling to meet many of its goals, and continues to fail when developing plans to achieve goals. The first article supports both the idea that the next Secretary General may be a woman, and that she may be from Eastern Europe. The article explains how the current Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon, is in support of a female. It also explains how Eastern Europeans would like to have the next Secretary General. The second article supports the idea that the UN is struggling to meet goals. The article explains how the UN has failed to settle thousands of refugees and migrants, and the struggles the UN will face in doing so. Overall the United Nations has a difficult journey as it looks for its next Secretary General, and searches for homes for thousands of refugees and migrants.
The first article discusses 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) that the U.N. has put in place in September 2015. The #1 goal is to get rid of all forms of poverty everywhere. They would also like to get everybody access to clean food and water. They want to give everybody a supply of energy. The U.N. want to give everybody healthcare and education. It looks to help wildlife among other things ("U.N. Dreams Big: 17 Huge New Goals To Build A Better World" http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/09/25/443149821/u-n-dreams-big-17-huge-new-goals-to-build-a-better-world).
ReplyDeleteThe second article discusses how the U.N. isn't making the same progress for each MDG (Millennium Development Goal) that they wanted to complete. They had intended to complete these goals by 2015. They had not met their intended target time. This does not mean that nothing was achieved of this. Some countries had achieved some success but the majority of the world has not seen much.
The first and second article agree with what Browne and Weiss said. They both discussed the goals that the U.N. wished to achieve. They talked of the SDGs and MDGs. The first article discusses all of the SDGs that were put into place and the hope of achieving all of them. The second article discusses the MDGs and how that not all of the goals are making progress.
Citation ("Uneven progress of UN Millennium Development Goals" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-11364717)
DeleteThis first article agrees with what Browne and Weiss stated that the United Nations have many goals that they would like to achieve, but they need to alter their goals based on what can be achieved. They both state the the United Nations have trouble carrying out each goal in each country because of the circumstances each nation goes through. This article also gives alternate goals to help the United Nations with their plans. ("The United Nations needs a shorter, stronger game plan for humanity"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-united-nations-needs-a-shorter-stronger-game-plan-for-humanity/2014/11/21/a65e14d4-6f76-11e4-ad12-3734c461eab6_story.html?utm_term=.fc9257620eb7 )
This article is one of the examples of a country that could not have these goals not accomplished because of their circumstances. This article states that the goal that the rate of children attending primary school was not met in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because of their low income and ability to school these children. This article also says how the goal was very ambitious and too much for some of these countries to handle, agreeing with what Browne and Weiss stated in GDBB. ("The United Nations set and ambitious educational goal. Why did it fail in Congo?" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/06/08/164-countries-pledged-education-for-all-by-2015-heres-why-this-goal-failed-in-congo )
I chose these two articles because they agree with what the two authors say that the United Nations have good ideas, but cannot carry them out in every country due to circumstances. They both say that the goals were ambitious and that some were not easy to achieve throughout each nation.
The first article I read, which discussed a negative trend on one of the UN's goals, brought up a few interesting statistics on hate crimes due to the Brexit vote. For the weeks before and after the vote, there was a recorded 42% increase in allegations of hate crime, and this is understandable. The Brexit vote brought out the hatred and lack of empathy within the working class towards immigrants/refugees who could compete for their jobs at lower prices. The U.N. blamed politicians for instigating this hatred within people prior to the vote. Decrease in hate-crimes are a part of the U.N.'s many goals, so the Brexit vote as a whole seems to have been a destabilizing event, despite the United Kingdom being a highly developed country ("Politicians fuelled rise in hate crimes after Brexit vote, says UN body" http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/26/politicians-rise-hate-crimes-brexit-vote-un-committee).
ReplyDeleteThe second article I looked at examined the lack of accountability/responsibility within the U.N.. The U.N. was the cause for a cholera epidemic in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake when peacekeepers dumped waste into public canals. The U.N., however, insisted that they were not responsible for this, until it was eventually discovered that they did. The U.N. has commonly been accused of having a double standard when it comes to responsibility, and this case was no exception ("Dodging Accountability at the United Nations" http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/opinion/dodging-accountability-at-the-united-nations.html?comments&_r=0).
While the first article displays the statistical expansion and accountability that the U.N. needs to have for worldwide events according to Brown and Weiss, the second article shows the dark and irresponsible side of the U.N. that certain countries have shown their distaste for. For the first article, statistical goals/expansions are more thoroughly required if the U.N. wishes to reach its goals, and these small examinations of events on their goals is a positive sign. On the other hand, the U.N. will have to make major reforms to its accountability to compensate for its internal double standards.
Very well done!
DeleteIn the first article, it states that Africa is falling behind on the Millennium Development Goals. Africa currently invests in the false promise that Western countries are going to double their foreign aid in an attempt to help raise Africa out of poverty, yet that is not happening. Some people are starting to believe that these eight goals set for all of the countries were just too extreme for Africa to take part in. Foreign aid cannot fix all of Africa’s problems which may be another reason why the Millennium Development Goals are not being met. (Schifferes, Steve. "Why Can't Africa Tackle Poverty?" BBC News, BBC, 27 Sept. 2007, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7013764.stm.)
ReplyDeleteThe second article claims that because of the Millennium Development Goals, child mortality rates have been reduced by half in the last 20 or so years. Most of the goals for the under-five mortality rates have either been met or are very close to being met, and this article was written in 2014 which means that the numbers may have since lowered. (Khosla, Simran. "More Kids around the World Today Are Living past Their Fifth Birthday." PRI, Public Radio International, www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-20/more-kids-around-world-today-are-living-past-their-fifth-birthday#.)
Both articles describe the effect that the Millennium Development Goals have had on countries and continents around the world. Stephan Browne and Thomas G. Weiss, the co-authors of this section in Great Decisions Briefing Book have discussed the pros and cons of these set goals and whether or not they seem realistic for all countries. The Millennium Development Goals seem to be aiding in the percentage of child deaths worldwide like the second article states, but on a smaller scale, these expectations may be too much for Africa to handle like the first article shows.
In the first article, a run-down of some of the SDG's is given. The SDG's are goals that the UN hopes to accomplish by 2030, and they have been approved since last September. It will take a few more years to measure the progress in the goals. This article shares information as an update on a global scale of goals that have been worked on and what remains. The data gives a decent layout of the challenges, but no telling of how to make progress.Good news includes poverty being cut in half, less children hunger, more survival of births, more clean water, less child marriage, and more contributions. The bad news includes overweight children, women work more than men, polluted air, preventable diseases still exist (but are going down), and poor children aren't being accounted for. ("The U.N.'s Rundown Of Some Of The World's Biggest Problems" http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/07/23/486924567/the-u-n-s-rundown-of-some-of-the-worlds-biggest-problems)
ReplyDeleteIn the second article, the countries were rated on their goal developments. The countries can be measured on how they are doing in meeting the goals, based on certain indicators. Countries should be aiming to achieve economic, social, and environmental goals. Not all countries are doing well with achieving goals in all areas. The Scandinavian countries were ranked the highest in achieving the most goals in all categories. The least wealthy countries are doing the worst, but some wealthy countries are not doing well either, like the U.S. Some countries are confused by their scores. The U.S. is not doing well in their social and environmental goals. ("A new report rated countries on ‘sustainable development.’ The U.S. did horribly" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/07/21/a-new-report-rated-countries-on-sustainable-development-and-the-u-s-did-horribly/?utm_term=.e05319bc47e9)
Both of these articles agree with Browne and Weiss's article on the UN's goals. The first article gives a run-down of how the goals are going. The goals that are being accomplished, and which goals have not been accomplished yet. The second article describes more in-depth the overall project. The article describes the goals being environmental, social, and economic. This article also shows the countries that are leading, and the countries that aren't doing so well, such as the United States. Both articles show more detail on the goals.
The first article by the The New York Times is about how the U.N. intervened when the top Rights Official inquired about war crimes in Yemen. Citizens are living in extreme poverty with 7.6 million of the total 24 million people suffering from malnutrition. In one year 60% of deaths were caused by airstrikes from Saudi-led coalition trying to bring a ex President back into power. This article relates to the Great Discussion article because they both mention the U.N.'s obligation as well as other countries obligation to help those in need like the helpless people in Yemen. They also both describe how the U.N. operates and different councils in the U.N.
ReplyDeleteThe second article by The Economist is about the U.N. intervening when there was a violation of gay rights. When a group in the Middle East called the OIC pressured for 11 gay and transgender groups were banned from a meeting discussing the sexually transmitted infections HIV/AIDS. Many spoke up in the U.N. including America's U.N. ambassador. This relates to the Great Decision's article about the U.N. because they both discuss the U.N. and their involvement in global matters and the U.N.'s goals.
Article One Title: U.N. Rights Official Calls for Inquiry Into Abuses in Yemen Conflict
Article One Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/world/middleeast/yemen-un-rights.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FUnited%20Nations&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
Article Two Title: At the UN, new global fault-lines over moral matters are emerging
Article Two Link: http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/05/un-and-gay-rights