Preserving world peace is a central purpose of the United Nations. Under the Charter, member states agree to settle disputes by peaceful means and refrain from threatening or using force against other states.
UN efforts have produced dramatic results. The UN helped defuse the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and the Middle East crisis in 1973. In 1988 a UN-sponsored peace settlement ended the Iran-Iraq war. In the 1990s, the UN was instrumental in restoring sovereignty to Kuwait and played a major role in ending civil wars in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mozambique.
UN peacemaking brings hostile parties to agreement through diplomatic means. The Security Council may recommend ways to avoid conflict or restore or secure peace through negotiation, for example, or undertake mediation, or recourse to the International Court of Justice. In the event of fighting the UN tries to secure a ceasefire. It may send a peacekeeping mission to help the parties maintain the truce and to keep opposing forces apart. Peacekeeping operations may last for a few months or continue for many years.
Active vocabulary
1. to refrain from
2. to produce dramatic results
3. to defuse crisis
4. to be instrumental
5. hostile parties
6. to undertake mediation
7. to recourse to
8. ceasefire
9. truce
10. fight against terrorism
11. instigation
12. terrorist attack
13. challenge
14. to challenge
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| 1. to produce dramatic results 1. to defuse missile crisis 2. to be instrumental 3. to restore sovereignty 4. to end wars 5. to bring hostile parties to agreement 6. through diplomatic means 7. to avoid conflict 8. to secure peace 9. to undertake mediation 10. to recourse to the International Court of Justice 11. to secure a ceasefire 12. to maintain the truce 13. to refrain from threatening or using force against other states | a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) l) m) n) |
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1. Under the Charter, member states agree.....
2. The UN helped defuse..........
3. In the 1990`s the UN was instrumental in...........
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4. The UN played a major role in.................
5. UN peacemaking brings.....................
6. The Security Council may recommend.............
7. In the event of fighting the UN......................
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1. What do the UN member states agree to under the Charter?
2. What dramatic results have UN efforts produced?
3. What ways may the Security Council recommend?
4. What does the UN do in the event of fighting?
5. What may the UN do to help the parties maintain the truth?
6. How long may peacekeeping operations last?
Text 3
Reform
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1. What calls to reform the UN have been made?
2. What has the UN been accused of?
3. Who was an official reform programme begun by?
4. What event brought together the heads of most UN member states?
5. What was the aim of the World Summit?
6. What reform of the UN did Kofi Annan propose?
7. What was the result of the Summit?
Since its founding, there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations. Some want the UN to play a greater or more effective role in world affairs, while others want its role reduced to humanitarian work. There have also been calls for the UN Security Councils membership to be increased, for different ways of electing the UN Secretary General.
The UN has also been accused of bureaucratic inefficiency and waste. An official reform programme was begun by Kofi Annan in 1997. Reforms mentioned include changing the permanent membership of the Security Council, making the bureaucracy more transparent, accountable and efficient, making the UN more democratic.
In September 2005, the UN convened a World Summit that brought together the heads of most member states, calling the summit a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations. Kofi Annan proposed that the summit agree to reform the UN, renewing the organisation`s focus on peace, security, human rights and development, and to make it better equipped at facing 21st century issues. The result of the summit was a compromise text agreed on by world leaders, which included the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission to help countries emerging from conflict, a Human Rights Council, and agreements to devote more resources on achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
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1. History of the UN
2. The UN General Assembly
3. The Security Council
4. The UN Secretary General
5. What the UN does for peace
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Text 1
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1. Do you think the United Nations fulfils its mission today?
2. What recent actions or peacekeeping operations of the UN can you remember? Which of them were successful?
3. Do you think that the role of the UN is really very important in the modern world?
4. Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation Anatoly Torkunov said that if the UN didn`t exist, we would have to invent it. Comment on it.
5. Do you think that the UN peacekeeping forces could substitute for NATO or EU forces in the future?
LANGUAGE IN USE
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Examples:
| The treaty cannot be signed without solving all disputable problems. | |
| Both leaders oppose war as a means of settling political disputes. | . |
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Examples:
| The judge insisted on Jurors giving the verdict in time. | , . |
| This happy events occured without any recommendations having been made by the UN Secretary General | - , . |
