Informative/Expository Writing by Charo B. Antang

INFORMATIVE ESSAY

by

Charo B. Antang

United Nations Power

We only have one world. This world is the home of everyone under one ruler, GOD. But man continued the creation started by God, and man multiplied himself, procreated his race and filled the world. Nations were born, races were identified.  Conflicts started. 

            Everyone, regardless of races emanated from only one, God. But differences are visible, you are not like me, I am not like him. No two individuals are exactly the same. My belief might not be yours and his. I am big and you are small, I am weak and you are strong. And because you are big and strong, you are powerful and ambitious and you want to conquer not only me but the whole world, and war started.

             War benefited no one. Lives are killed, properties are destroyed. It stops the whole world from its evolution, from its progress. It’s a total devastation.  This is the suffering of the   world during the First and Second World War.

 And a man from the 18^th Century has a strong desire of eradicating conflicts among nations, he wants nothing but peace. He is a German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant who founded the League of Nations. This world organization aims to stop war and protect small nations from the invasion of a much bigger and powerful one. But it fails due to some weaknesses. 

A German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant has a strong desire of eradicating this kind of disaster. He wants nothing but peace. Kant’s idea came to life after the World War I (1914-1918). Horrified by the devastation of the war, countries were inspired to come together and work toward peace. They formed a world organization of nations, the League of Nations to promote world peace. There were 63 member nations to this league including some of the world’s greatest powers: France, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR). But this league failed in its most basic mission, to prevent another world war, the World War II due to two major flaws. First, several of the world’s most powerful countries were not members, most notably, the United States. Second, the League required consensus among its members to oppose aggression. Dissent by any of the members could prevent consensus and render the League useless. When Japan, Italy, and Germany undertook military aggression in the 1930s, they would not agree to censure themselves, thus preventing the consensus necessary for League action. This aggression ultimately led to World War II (1939-1945).

This failure of the League of Nations led to the birth of a new world organization of nations, the United Nations created to promote world peace and cooperation. Its mission is to maintain world peace, develop good relations between countries, promote cooperation in solving the world’s problems, and encourage respect for human rights. This was started by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941.

On April 25, 1945, the United Nations Conferences on International Organization convened in San Francisco, with delegates from 50 countries attending. The delegates worked for two months to complete a charter for the UN that included its purpose, principles, and organizational structure. The charter contained a formal agreement committing all the world’s nations to a common set of basic rules governing their relations. The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, with 51 member countries-the 50 represented at the conference and Poland, which had not been able to send a delegate.

At present, United Nations has 192 members out of 194 nations of the world. UN is waiting for Taiwan and the smallest nation of the world, the Vatican City to pledge their commitment of uniting to United Nations.

United Nation is the biggest and the only international organization of countries. Powerful to facilitate and mediate conflicts among the nations. But still, war manifests. It only implies one significant fact, peace must start from us, from the smallest unit of society, the family.

This October, we celebrate the United Nations Month. A perfect time to reflect on the mission of this organization, to promote world peace. Let us be a peacemaker, in our most little way, in our family, in our society, in our nation, to our little world.