Compare And Contrast Realism And Liberalism

The United Nations (UN) was established in June 1945, after World War II and the failure of the League of Nations, it was created to maintain peace and security. Representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. The UN now consist of 193 member states; states are admitted to membership in the UN by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The charter of the United Nations established six primary organs within their headquarters in New York, further main offices are situated in Geneva, they are: The General Assembly, the organ that reflects the full membership of the UN. The Security

The Secretariat (Article 7 of UN charter), responsible for the administrative activities of the UN, it is headed by secretary general is Ban Ki Moon. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Realism and Liberalism are two of the main theories in International Relations best used to describe the structure of the United Nations. Classical Realism dates back to the works of Thucydides, Nicollo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. Realism is the dominant theory of international relations because it provides the most powerful explanation for the state of war that is the regular condition of life in the international system. One of the major view of Realism is that the international system is anarchic. Akoko (2013) argues that relations between states in the international system are characterized by competition for power rather than cooperation. States continually seek to further

Liberalism developed in the 1970s as some scholars began arguing that realism was outdated. The increase in globalization, the expeditious rise in communications technology, and the increase in international trade meant that states could no longer rely on simple power politics to decide matters. Jehangir (2012) states liberalism can be crudely defined as the “freedom for the individual” as it believes that humans are good natured beings. Liberalism’s core ideals stress individualism, human rights, universality, freedom from authority, right to be treated equally under the protection of law and duty to respect and treat others as “ethical subjects” as well as freedom for social action. Rob (2008), argues that although the UN may not be effective militarily, it is good at providing humanitarian aid, which would seem to fit the liberal definition of an organization that provides for the people. The UN almost always provides this type of humanitarian aid after a major disaster or military conflict. A perfect example can be seen in what happened after the massive tsunami hit Southeast Asia in 2006. The UN, very soon after the scope of the disaster was known, started to provide aid. By December 28, two days after the disaster, they were already providing aid to the area, such as clean drinking water. The reason why they are much more of a liberal organization than a realist organization is that the