My Advice to the Secretary-General of the UN - Essay Sample

Political polarization refers to the state whereby an individuals stand on decision, policy, reason, or person is significantly dependent on the affiliation of the political party. What this means is that regardless of how wrong or misinformed the stand could be, the individual is always in line with the political partys position. When political polarization occurs in any system, most decisions are biased, and the moderate to minority voices are ostracized, they subsequently lose power and influence in the decision-making process. The United Nations is one such system affected by political polarization and weakens its operations and effectiveness significantly.

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A strong UN is vital today in solving global problems and preventing catastrophes like global warming. But due to internal weaknesses, it cannot play a greater role as an excellent coordination forum. In addition to the institutional lethargy and financial problems, an identified obstacle to reform in the United Nations includes the contrary positions held by Northern industrialized countries and southern developing/emerging powers. In the General Assembly, both sides often see negotiations as a zero-sum game, in which one side wins and the other loses. As a result, both sides focus more on claiming value for themselves, losing sight of possible value creation from cooperating in the process (Carter, 2011).

As the Secretary-General, you should pay less attention to decisions made by the popular vote but rather seek insight as to why the decision was made and whether or not such decisions have the organizations best interest at heart. Heres why. There is an old saying that says do not bite the hand that feeds you. Temporary members of the United Nations are under receivership programs of more stable countries especially the United States. African countries benefit directly from funds from permanent colleagues in the name of loans, grants, financial aid, among others. Therefore, by default, these countries vote for their donors as an exchange for the favorable treatment and benefits they receive. As a result, the voting decision of these temporary countries is mostly biased leading to a state known as vote buying and vote coincidence. Further research shows that the United States uses the voting behavior of recipients to make financial aids disbursement decisions. This affects the credibility of voting behavior, and it is all staged and coerced decision. The freedom to vote is, therefore, compromised (Hosli et al., 2010).

As the Secretary-General of the UN, this behavior should be monitored and controlled. The United States should be served with a non-interference policy which requires them not to be involved directly in other countries affairs especially ones that they support financially. The United States should also be warned against using its position as the Superpowers to control major decisions of the UN to their advantage. The focus should be on the bigger picture which is uniting to solve global problems (Voeten, 2000).

Since the issue of donor funds will always supersede the temporary countries need for voting freedom, I would advise you to set aside funds to aid such economies in crisis. That way, the funding will come from the UN as an organization as opposed to the United States as a member country of the UN. This move will draw the focus from the United States and into the UN. Primary competition among countries will also be done away with, and subsequently, members cooperation will be facilitated.

References

Carter, D. (2011). Vote Buying in the UN General Assembly. (1st Ed.).

Hosli, M., Kampen, E., Meijerink, F., & Tennis, K. (2010). Voting Cohesion in the United Nations General Assembly: The Case of the European Union. (1st Ed.).

Voeten, E. (2000). Clashes in the Assembly (1st Ed.).