The United Nations was established in 1945 by 51 countries; by 2010, it was 192 countries strong. The participating countries were willing to abide to the obligations as outlined in the UN Charter, an international treaty which laid the foundation for basic principles of international relations. At its conception, the United Nations sought to serve four purposes: to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among states, to cooperate in solving international problems, and to act as a center of the harmonization of actions among nations. Unfortunately, the United Nations continues to serve as a prime example for Mearsheimer’s arguments that institutions provide false promises.
The United Nations Charter permits …show more content…
She stresses the evidence the United States was aware of but argues that the United States did virtually nothing along the continuum of intervention from high level diplomatic denunciation to military presence in Rwanda. In Powers’ eyes, the U.S. passed up countless opportunities to intervene. The United States was aware of the birth of genocide within a week of the assassination of the Rwandan President. On the diplomatic level, the mention of genocide, or the g word, was avoided because using it otherwise would oblige the United States to take action. Powers argues that war was tragic but it did not create a moral imperative. Genocide, on the other hand, required action. The United States was aware that once they acknowledged what was happening in Rwanda as genocide that it would be imperative of them to support and take action based on the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention of …show more content…
It would not have cost the United States an arm and a leg to send troops with machine guns to intimidate men with large knives. It came down to money – always. At the very least, Powers believed that simply freezing the assets of the genocidaires and taking hold of their financial source would have made an impact. Powers also creates other notable points about the world’s tragic failure to intervene. Even if the world tried to turn a blind eye to Rwanda’s situation, the world could not deny hearing the call for genocide. One of the principle radio stations in Rwanda broadcasted with alarming frequency the names, address, and license plates of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. This information was broadcasted on loudspeakers throughout major cities and larger towns in Rwanda. This should have been the alarm bell to the world and censoring this station would have been the right thing to do. When the freedom to live is violated, freedom of speech is the least of the priorities that the world should be concerned about violated. Even when UN Peacekeeping Forces were already in Rwanda let by LT GEN Romeo Dallaire of Canada, they were specifically ordered to focus only on protecting their own forces and avoiding escalation in violence. This meant that they were prohibited to forcefully protect Rwandan civilians or interrupt the flow of weapons within the country. In addition to
The United Nations Charter permits …show more content…
She stresses the evidence the United States was aware of but argues that the United States did virtually nothing along the continuum of intervention from high level diplomatic denunciation to military presence in Rwanda. In Powers’ eyes, the U.S. passed up countless opportunities to intervene. The United States was aware of the birth of genocide within a week of the assassination of the Rwandan President. On the diplomatic level, the mention of genocide, or the g word, was avoided because using it otherwise would oblige the United States to take action. Powers argues that war was tragic but it did not create a moral imperative. Genocide, on the other hand, required action. The United States was aware that once they acknowledged what was happening in Rwanda as genocide that it would be imperative of them to support and take action based on the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention of …show more content…
It would not have cost the United States an arm and a leg to send troops with machine guns to intimidate men with large knives. It came down to money – always. At the very least, Powers believed that simply freezing the assets of the genocidaires and taking hold of their financial source would have made an impact. Powers also creates other notable points about the world’s tragic failure to intervene. Even if the world tried to turn a blind eye to Rwanda’s situation, the world could not deny hearing the call for genocide. One of the principle radio stations in Rwanda broadcasted with alarming frequency the names, address, and license plates of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. This information was broadcasted on loudspeakers throughout major cities and larger towns in Rwanda. This should have been the alarm bell to the world and censoring this station would have been the right thing to do. When the freedom to live is violated, freedom of speech is the least of the priorities that the world should be concerned about violated. Even when UN Peacekeeping Forces were already in Rwanda let by LT GEN Romeo Dallaire of Canada, they were specifically ordered to focus only on protecting their own forces and avoiding escalation in violence. This meant that they were prohibited to forcefully protect Rwandan civilians or interrupt the flow of weapons within the country. In addition to