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Contemporary World Politics 46 W hy International “Talking shop? Yes, there are a lot of speeches and meetings O rganisations ? at the U.N., especially during the annual sessions of the General Read the two cartoons on this page. Both the cartoons comment Assembly. But as Churchill put it, jaw-jaw is better than war-war. on the ineffectiveness of the United Nations Organisation, Isn’t it better to have one place where all… countries in the world usually referred to as the UN, in the Lebanon crisis in 2006. Both can get together, bore each other sometimes with their words rather the cartoons represent the kind of opinions that we often hear about than bore holes into each other on the battlefield?”— Shashi Tharoor, the UN. the former UN Under-Secretary- On the other hand, we also General for Communications and find that the UN is generally Public Information. regarded as the most important international organisation in These two quotes suggest s o m e t h i n g i m p o r t a n t . today’s world. In the eyes of many people all over the world, it is International organisations are not the answer to everything, but indispensable and represents the great hope of humanity for peace they are important. International organisations help with matters and progress. Why do we then need organisations like the UN? of war and peace. They also help countries cooperate to make That’s what they Let us hear two insiders: say about the better living conditions for us all. “The United Nations was parliament too — not created to take humanity to Countries have conflicts and a talking shop. Does it mean that we need heaven, but to save it from hell.” differences with each other. That — Dag Hammarskjold, the UN’s does not necessarily mean they talking shops? second Secretary-General. must go to war to deal with their . . n n s s o o r r a a C e g g a C , c s o r s H e y P a a H e © © DuringJune2006, Israel attacked Lebanon, saying that it was necessary to control the militant group called Hezbollah. Large numbers of civilians were killed and many public buildings and even residential areas came under Israeli bombardment. The UN passed a resolution on this only in August and the Israel army withdrew from the region only in October. Both these cartoons comment on the role of the UN and its Secretary-General in this episode. Reprint 2026-27