The role of the UN during the could war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The role of the UN during the could war - Essay Example mandate it was bestowed, Krasno (4) argues that the United States Charter allocated more power to five major states, which were further given veto powers and permanent representation in what was known as the upper chamber where exclusive jurisdiction were taken into consideration. Additionally, there were six nonpermanent members who later increased to ten. As such, the charter principle of sovereign equality expected all members to abstain in their international relations from threat or forceful use against territorial integrity or any state political independence. Thus, the United Nations issued the Security Council with the responsibility of ensuring that peace and security was maintained internationally (Krasno 5). Importantly, the United Nations first role during the Cold war happened in Korea when the Korean peninsula was divided through the occupation of the Soviet occupied territory in the Northern part while the Southern part was taken over by the United States. According to Sachleben (36) the state of unrest was thought to be between Communist and non communist states, and as such the United Nations was compelled to provide international legitimacy to the United States reaction on Korean peninsula although president Truman was determined to counter the threat until 1953 when the peace was finally restored. Similarly, the United Nations was engaged in the role of ensuring that Soviet Union was not involved in the unrest in Congo after the killing of the Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjold through a plane crash. During this unrest, there was conflict between the western powers and the then President Kasavubu who was supported by the United Nations through their peace keeping mandate (Downs 14). It is worth noting that the unrest in Korea and Congo were perfect examples of how the anticipated roles of the United Nations were influenced by the East- West divisions. As such, critics have argued that it is highly likely that the United