THE UNIVERISTY OF NAIROBI

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
MASTERS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Course: United Nations and The World

Instructor: Dr. JONYO Fred

C50/67836/2013
Alvin AKOKO O.

Task: THE UNITED NATIONS IS STRUCTURALLY REALIST AND FUNCTIONALLY

IDEALIST. DISCUSS

Submission: September, 2013

LIST OF ACRONYMS
ECOSOC- Economic and Social Council
NGOs Non-governmental Organization
IR- International Relations
INGOs International Non-Governmental Organizations
UNCTAD- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNEP- United Nations Environmental Programme
WHO- World Health Organization
U.N. United Nations

Introduction
The United Nations (U.N.) is one of the largest inter-governmental organizations. This paper will
seek to trace the origin of the U.N., analyze the structure and functions of the UN under
conceptual framework and key assumptions of two theories of International relations: Realism
and Idealism/ Liberalism. For the purposes of this paper, idealism and Liberalism will discussed
together as the key assumptions of both theories are similar.
The United Nations
The origins of United of Nations can be traced back to Washington Declaration of 1st January
1942, in which twenty six (26) allied nations which came to be called the United Nations
pledged themselves to employ their full resources against Germany, Italy, Japan and the Moscow
Four Nations Declarations of 30th October 1943 which frequently called the allies the United
Nations (Roberts & Kingsbury, 2010). These discussions were later heightened during the last
stages of the Second World War in which it was resolved that there was need to establish a new
International Organization to replace the League of Nations. The Dumbarton Oaks Conference in
October 1944 saw the drafting of the first draft of the Charter of the U.N. which was signed by
fifty one (51) nations on April 25th 1945 in San Francisco (Peacock, 1982).The UN therefore
came in to force in 1945 with original membership of 51 members and by end of 1993, one
eighty three members had joined the UN and currently UN has 193 member state. It is worth
noting that the membership of UN is comprised of sovereign states and therefore the increase of
membership years later was a result of nations gaining their sovereignty after independence.

The key functions of the UN as stipulated in Article 1 of the charter is to maintain international
peace and security, develop friendly relations, to achieve international cooperation by striving to
address international economic, social, cultural or humanitarian problems and encouraging
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and finally, to be a center for harmonizing
the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
Structurally, the UN comprises of six (6) principle organs: the General Assembly, a Security
Council, an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a Trusteeship Council, an International
Court of Justice (ICJ), and a Secretariat (Article 7 of U.N. charter).1
Theoretical perspectives of the United Nations
There are two key theories that analyze the operations of the United Nations. These are: Realism
and Idealism/ liberalism theories
Realism
The study of international relations is informed by several major theories, among which is
Realism. Classical Realism dates back to the works of Thucydides, Nicollo Machiavelli and
Thomas Hobbes. These earlier scholars pegged their arguments on the inherent nature of
1 Each organ has its key roles as it is provided for in Article 4, 5,10,12,13 and article 15 of the
UN charter. The Security Council primarily maintains peace and security. It comprises fifteen
member states out of which five are permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United
Kingdom and the United States of America). The General Assembly on the other hand controls
much of UN administrative work like approving of budgets, superintends the operations of the
secretariat and other subsidiary organs , debates and adopts major resolutions on various issues.
This is usually done through regular sessions held in the last quarter of every year and occasional
emergency sessions to consider specific issues. The ICJ is mandated to issue binding decisions in
the case between states which have consented to its jurisdiction and to provide advisory opinion
when requested to do so by competent international organizations.
Thucydidess explanation of the Peloponnesian Wars deviated from mythical and religious
explanations of human behavior. He argued that human beings act to instill fear, gain honor and
profit from others and hence attain power and security. Machiavelli subsequently attributed state
relations to the universal wickedness of the human nature. Like Thucydides, Hobbes argued
based his argument on fear, honor and profit, and proceeded to give the prescription of rational
fear and self interest as solutions to problems faced by states. (Freyberg-Inan, 2004:10). These
classical scholars were later echoed by neorealist scholars like EH Carr who criticized the
utopian belief in a harmony of interests in the international system, Hans Morgenthau who and
Kenneth Waltz who argued that the struggles exist in the international system and in the absence
of a policing force in the international system, states introduce force to sustain their national
interests. (Freyberg-Inan, 2004:11). Today, realism is mainly analyzed against Idealism, its rival
theory in explaining international Relations.

Realism is a power theory. Hans Morgenthau defined power as the ability of A to make B do
what B would otherwise not do. Thompson and Morgenthau argue that politics is interests
defined in terms of power. Power is the concept that helps scholars distinguish politics from
other spheres of action and understanding, just like economics is defined in terms of the concept
of wealth. It facilitates the distinction between political and non political facts.(Morgenthau and
Thompson, 2010:5) Benjamin Frankel argues that Realism and its constituent sub-theories view
International Relations and Politics in general as a constant struggle for, and conflict over power
and security. (Freyberg-Inan, 2004:2)
The fundamental assumptions of realism
Realism is based upon four key propositions. The first major assumption in the realist point of
view of the international system is that the international system is anarchic. This means that
relations between states in the international system are characterized by competition for power
rather than cooperation. States continually seek to further their own national interests agenda at
the expense of other states national interest. For realists, international system exists in a state of
constant antagonism. States use their power to pursue national interest and accumulate more
power.
Secondly according to realists states are the most important actors: that the national
governments are the most important players in the game of international politics. Unlike
idealism, for instance, which recognizes the contribution of non-state actors in international
relations, realism purports that the state is the key player in international system. Realist scholars
emphasize that the driving force behind international relations is national interests which is only
inherent in the state. Realists argue that Intergovernmental , non-governmental and regional
organizations and other actors recognized as key in the international system are of less
importance and do not significantly influence international relations.
Thirdly, realists believe that all states within the system are unitary and rational actors. This
assumption promotes the belief that the state is capable of unilaterally weighing options and
making the most rational decision that supports its national interest. In arguing for the unitary
nature of the state, realists claim that policies that are arrived at state level are authoritative
decisions of indivisible entities and go ahead to justify the rational bit by arguing that state
responses to international events are based on cool clearheaded means-end calculations
designed to maximize their self interest. (Freyberg-Inan, 2004:2) Realism does not consider the
possibility of varying opinions brought about by the constituents of the state like Congress,
Senate, Parliaments and significant individuals. In so doing, this theory assumes that national
interest is the spring of action; whatever decisions the state makes, they are aimed at maximizing
national interest (Donelly, 2000:7)
Finally, according to realists the primary concern of all states is survival. Realists assume that
state agenda in the international system is dominated by security and strategic issues. Realists
perceive International Relations as constituting the pursuance of state security. Therefore, this
theory prioritizes state actions that foster security and state survival as high politics, while other

areas like economy are referred to as low politics. Realists argue that the primary goal of states
is to preserve their own existence, and that other factors can be effective once the state has
succeeded in asserting its power in the international system.
So how is realism depicted in the U.N.?
Realism is a power theory and just like in realism, the structure of the UN is driven by the
argument on power. It is from this premise that the founding fathers of UN vested the
responsibility of the world peace on the Veto wielding states. For realists, military capacity
defines high politics while economics are regarded as low politics therefore the composition of
the Veto power was basically based on military capacity2.
In his argument The Veto Power is comprised of 5 states: Russia, United States, China, France
and United Kingdom. The five are recognized as having strong and large military capacity and
therefore able to meet the demands of providing on collective security, Hans Morgenthau (1948)
stated that there are three key prerequisite to collective security: that collective security system
must be able to assemble military force in strength greatly in excess to that assembled by the
aggressor(s) thereby deterring the aggressor(s) from attempting to change the world order
defended by the collective security system and two; those nations, whose combined strength
would be used for deterrence as mentioned in the first prerequisite, should have identical beliefs
about the security of the world order that the collective is defending. Three; nations must be
willing to subordinate their conflicting interests to the common good defined in terms of the
common defence of all member-states. The Veto power meet these pre- requisites as they are to
assemble strong military force due to their high military capacity and also the common goal of
pursuing national interests which are premised by peace and security therefore the desire to
maintain peace and security in the international arena and in cases where one member feels that a
certain resolution may negatively impact on their interests, a consensus has to be agreed upon.
Secondly; structurally the U.N. was founded in a state-centric approach. Article 2 (1) of the U.N
Charter provides that the U.N. will be based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its
members. Further Article 4 (1) 3emphasis that membership of the United Nations is
military troops when need be for use of force. They are also the highest spenders in military. For
example: according to SIPRI military Expenditure Database 2013, in their report on Global
Distribution of military Expenditure 2012: United States spent 39%, China 9.5%, Russia 5.2%,
U.K 3.5% , Japan 3.4% while the other 10 members of the UNSC combined 21.2%. The rest of
the world spent 18.2% which is barely half of what United States spent.
3 Article 4 (1) of the UN charter states: Membership in the United Nations is Open to all other
peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the
judgment of the organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligation open to peace
loving states. Thus U.N. recognized the sovereignty of states and non-interference was a driving
force of engagement. Therefore U.N. recognized States as the key actors in the international
system just like in realism

Additionally, the realists emphasis the struggle by states to achieve their national interests both
nationally and internationally. The national interest of a state become a priority and securing
interests of other states become secondary; what is commonly known as Real- Politik. The result
is that states struggle to enhance or build their power as this build their political stability. In the
struggle for power, disputes are likely to occur due to the interaction of states as key actors in the
international system. The establishment of the U.N. was therefore premised by the anarchical
nature of the international system and hence the need for international policing body to maintain
peace and security.
Idealism/liberalism as a theory
Idealism as an approach was the precursor to liberal international relations theory and it is also
referred to as utopianisms by those who considered themselves realists, for instance E.H. Carr
and Hans Morgenthau. Idealism is generally considered as the second great body of theory in
international relation (IR) after the First World War (WW I), but it traces its roots way back
beyond the establishment of IR discipline in 1919. This theory has its roots in the 17th C Hugo
Grotian school of thought which is grounded on the aspect of use of law; both law of nations and
the law of nature in guiding the behavior of man, the 18th C enlightenment school of thought, the
19th C economic and political liberalism and the 20th C Wilsonian (Woodrow Wilson school of
thought) which was key to the formation of the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson to a large
extent helped idealist theory to become central to the early study of IR when he decided to let
United States of America (USA) to intervene, decisively, in WW I. Wilson's idealism was a
precursor to liberal international relations theory which aroused after World War II.
Contemporary liberal idealist is drawn from the intellectual antecedents in the European
Enlightenment, when philosophers first concerned themselves with international peace and
human rights. Important inspiration is drawn from such sources as Immanuel Kant , 1724-1804
(Perpetual Peace), John Locke, 1632-1704 (Two Treatises of Civil Government), Hugo Grotius,
1583-1635 (On the Law of War and Peace), Emerich de Vattel (The Law of Nations),Erasmus
(1466-1536), Adams Smith (1723-1790), Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865).
Fundamental argument of Idealism
Idealism/Liberalism theory in IR is deeply rooted in Western liberal traditions with a strong
belief in the inherent good that can be found in human nature. Thus according to idealist, States
are merely the expression of a mass of human beings and can reflect this basically positive
human nature in the course of their actions. Idealists assert that international systems of morality,
law, organization, and agreements can and should exist to counter the anarchic nature of the
international arena.
The basic proposition of this theory is the good nature of the individual. Since the State is a
manifestation of the individual, its intentions are good and it is the environment and lack of
proper institutions that corrupt the states. States therefore seek a collective agenda to the

benefit of all as opposed to the realist conception that seek to define the character of the state as
synonymous with self-interest, pursuit of national interest and a total disregard to morality in
international politics. (Baylis, 2001).So states foreign policy would reflect this collective desire
for the well-being of other states and seek opportunities that benefit all. At the back of this
argument is the idea of the good nature of man. States therefore can relate on mutual trust.
In line with this, the U.N. takes a liberal nature in carrying out it roles. While the realists
disregard the role played by non-state actors [international organizations, Non-governmental
Organizations (NGOS), and Regional Organizations (ROs)], the liberals recognize the state as
the main actor but do not overlook the role played by the non-state actors. The liberals therefore
argue that non-state actors too have a role to play in world politics. They agree that international
organizations may also have an important role in implementing, monitoring and adjudicating
disputes arising from decisions made by constituents states of the organization. The U.N; thus as
an international organization may on certain issues be independent actors in their own rights.
Further as the issues became more diverse that is from state-centric approach to issues affecting
individuals for example the issues of child soldiers and poverty, security shifted from national
security to human; the UN saw the need to decentralize its mandate through the regional
organizations and Non-Governmental organizations. Conflict in the international system also
changed from inter-state to intra-state and U.N found it easier to use non-state actors like the
NGOs to infiltrate in to the intra-state conflict mainly because they were less bureaucratic
compared to states, the issue of sovereignty would not be challenge and finally the NGOs were
able to finance their activities reducing the financing burden to U.N. The NGOs were organized
in various themes among them: human rights, environmental, educational reforms, health
concerns and humanitarian. Some of the NGOs include: Amnesty International, UNESCO,
UNEP, and Greenspace among others. Unlike the NGOs, regional organizations were used to
promote peace and security as the states were likely to have similar interests. For example: The
European Union (E.U) acted remarkably well in peace keeping and peace enforcement in the
former Yugoslavia war and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has also been
recognized as a dominant security network in Europe. Chapter 10: Article 71 describes the
engagement between UN and NGOs and Chapter 8: Articles 52, 53 and 54 outlines partnership
with regional organizations.
Realists as earlier discussed have qualified security issues as high politics while other issues like
economics are low politics. While realists emphasis the engagement within the international
system to be that of security issues and use of force, liberals argue that there are other issues of
concern like economy, environmental degradation and human rights that affect the international
agenda which need to be addressed within the international
4 Article 53 stipulates: The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilize such regional
arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. But no enforcement action
shall be taken under regional arrangement or by regional arrangements or by regional agencies
without the authorization of the security council, with the exception of measures against any

enemy state , as defined in paragraph 2 of this Article , provided for pursuant to Article 107 or in
regional arrangement directed against renewal of aggressive policy on the part of any such state,
until such time as the organization may on request of the government concerned be charged with
the responsibility for preventing further aggression by such a state.
Article 54 states The Security Council shall at all times be kept fully informed of activities
undertaken or in contemplation under regional arrangements or by regional agencies for
maintenance of international peace and security system5 hence high chances of cooperation as
this issues also affect the interests of the state. The liberals emphasize on a just society through
cooperation and the idea of collective security within the U.N. is based on this. They disagree
with use force as the means of settling disputes. Chapter VI on pacific settlement of disputes
encourages parties in a dispute to use peaceful means to settle disputes.6 This is further depicted
in UN work on economic, social, environmental and human rights. This is mainly accomplished
through the NGOs like the UNCTAD, WTO, human rights committee, specific thematic
INGOs like U.N.E.P, W.H.O among others; who provide global policy advice and are allowed
pointing out areas of concern and attending proceedings of various UN committees as non-state
actors.
Finally, while realists emphasis on state being a unitary and rational actor, the liberals argue that
policy decision making involves coalition, bargaining and comprising so as to yield best
decision. This involves bringing on board other actors (interest groups, bureaucracies,
individuals) whose decision will also influence the interest of the states. A good example is the
role that is played by the International Financial institutions like International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank in foreign policy of states especially developing states due to their
borrowing capacity and also promotion key elements ( like 5 Under Article 1 (2) one of the
purposes of the U.N is to achieve International Cooperation in solving problems of an economic
, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex , language or religion
and hence other than just security issues, U.N addresses economic and social issues.
6 Article 33 (1) of the United Nations Charter states
The parties of any dispute , the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of the
international peace and security, shall , first of all seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry,
mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or
arrangements , or other peaceful means of their own choice human rights, democracy) of good
governance which is considered as one way of maintaining peace and security. Further states
cannot ignore the role played by Multinational Corporations as unfriendly foreign policies are
deemed to put off investors.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, while it is clear that realism and liberalism/ idealism dominates the functions and
structure of U.N., the liberal approach is mainly used as a strategy by the Veto Power to protect
their interests. It sent the impression of participation and cooperation while indeed the Veto
power rules and uses all means to protect their interests. Most of the International Nongovernmental organizations have their origin from the developed states and therefore their
operations in South ( developing countries) is basically to promote the interests of the North who
dominate the Security council the key decision maker in U.N.
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Morgenthau, H. (1948). Politics Among Nations: The struggle for Power and Peace (6th
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Roberts.J & Georg S. (2010). Introduction to International Relations; Theories and Approaches.
New York: Oxford University Press Inc. 4th edition
Roberts, A., & Kingsbury, B. (2010) United Nations, Divided World, The UNs Roles in
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accessed on 31st October 2013