The Existence, Legitimacy, and Effectiveness of the United Nations

 Jack Cahalane

Professor Shirk

POLS 170

March 23, 2022

Blog Post #3

The United Nations

The United Nations should be kept as a global institution, yet I believe there should be reforms to improve its effectiveness and legitimacy. In the article, “Legitimacy, Power, and the Symbolic Life of the UN Security Council,” by author Ian Hurd, the nature of the United Nations is discussed in length. One quote that stuck out to me was when he stated, “The power of social institutions in a society is largely a function of the legitimacy of those institutions. An institution that is perceived as legitimate by an individual is treated with more respect, is endowed with a corporate existence beyond the units that make it up, and finds compliance with its rules more easily secured than in the absence of legitimacy. International organizations seek legitimacy because they have problems in each of these areas” (Hurd 3). After reading this, I began to think about the legitimacy of the United Nations itself. Earlier in class, we had discussed the United Nations in relation to the Iraq War wherein President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was famously quoted as saying to the UN General Assembly in 2006, “The devil came here yesterday, and it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of…Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the President of the United States [President George W. Bush], the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world… It's an excellent book [Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival] to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what's happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet." Although I am unsure of the appropriateness of President Hugo Chavez’s comment, his discussion of Noam Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival lead me to find a quote by Chomsky which states, “I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom.” Thus, through this line of reasoning, I believe that the United Nations’s legitimacy should be questioned. Why should there be a global coalition to decide what is right and wrong? What is its purpose? And ultimately, what should be done to make it more effective?

In order to properly answer these questions via my personal reasoning, I looked to Ian Hurd’s “Legitimacy, Power, and the Symbolic Life of the UN Security Council” for guidance. Foremost, I believe that the United Nations should exist. Although I do not believe a world government would be beneficial to the betterment of freedom and equality throughout the world, I believe that a coalition wherein states can discuss important global issues is an exceedingly important one. I believe that a global coalition is important as a unifying force in international relations that is more inclusive than say the likes of regional coalitions such as NATO which also primarily focus on military motives. I believe that having this global coalition to dictate what is right and wrong is important through the creation of global norms. In turn, the United Nations not only acts symbolically in this regard as action can be dictated against states who engage in antagonistic means. Although the UN’s efficiency in carrying out these actions to halt antagonism is trivial, I believe that this does not invalidate the UN’s existence as a whole. Thus, I believe that the UN should exist so long as the states within it are working at least cooperatively amongst the majority of themselves and at best for the greater good of this world. 

In turn, although I believe that the United Nations should exist, I still believe that it can be improved in order to bolster its efficacy in promoting global cooperation and efficiency in carrying out its goals. My prescription for this is only theoretical (and I am open to suggestion), yet I believe there can be legitimate steps taken in order to bolster the effectiveness of the United Nations without disproportionately bolstering its power over the world, against specific nations, or by aiding specific nations. In order to do so, steps should be taken to create norms and standards which all countries should follow in order to first promote global cooperation. These standards should be realistic by promoting multilateral cooperative initiatives through a large majority vote (perhaps a 75-90% majority) promoted by monetary incentives similar to how the UN receives its funding. I believe that issuing a monetary incentive to promote initiatives such as distributing foreign aid, abating climate change or other agreed upon global initiatives by a majority would further promote cooperation and the betterment of the greater good. In order to avoid corruption in this regard, the UN’s funding along with monetary investments should be audited and made available to the general public of all nations. I understand that although this may be idealistic and ambitious, I do not believe it to be completely outlandish. I do not believe the United Nations should act as a global government, but I see great potential opportunity for it to be utilized as a coalition for promoting interstate cooperation and for furthering the greater good of humankind.

Works Cited

Hurd, Ian. Legitimacy, Power, and the Symbolic Life of the UN ... https://www.jstor.org/stable/27800326.

Chomsky, Noam. Hegemony or Survival? Hamish Hamilton, 2003.


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