Editing United Nations (section)

=== Effectiveness ===
According to [[international relations]] scholar [[Edward Luck]], the United States has preferred a feeble United Nations in major projects undertaken by the organization to forestall UN interference with, or resistance to, American policies. "The last thing the U.S. wants is an independent UN throwing its weight around", Luck said. Similarly, former [[US Ambassador to the United Nations]] [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] explained that "The Department of State desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective in whatever measures it undertook. The task was given to me, and I carried it forward with not inconsiderable success."<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', 17 October 2002 [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-17-fg-resolution17-story.html "U.N. Resolutions Frequently Violated"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317170020/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-17-fg-resolution17-story.html |date=17 March 2022 }}</ref>

In 1994, former special representative of the secretary-general of the UN to Somalia [[Mohamed Sahnoun]] published ''Somalia: The Missed Opportunities'',<ref>USIP Press Books, 1994, {{ISBN|978-1-878379-35-1}}</ref> a book in which he analyses the reasons for the failure of the 1992 UN intervention in [[Somalia]]. Sahnoun claims that between the start of the Somali civil war in 1988 and the fall of the [[Siad Barre]] regime in January 1991, the UN missed at least three opportunities to prevent major human tragedies. When the UN tried to provide humanitarian assistance, they were totally outperformed by [[NGO]]s, whose competence and dedication sharply contrasted with the UN's excessive caution and bureaucratic inefficiencies. Sahnoun warned that if radical reform were not undertaken, then the UN would continue to respond to such crises with inept improvisation.<ref>Book Review by Gail M. Gerhart in ''Foreign Affairs'', March/April 1995 [http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/50763/gail-m-gerhart/somalia-the-missed-opportunities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120239/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/50763/gail-m-gerhart/somalia-the-missed-opportunities|date=2 April 2015}}</ref>

Beyond specific instances or areas of alleged ineffectiveness, some scholars debate the overall effectiveness of the UN. Adherents to the [[Realism (international relations)|realist]] school of international relations take a pessimistic position, arguing that the UN is not an effective organization because it is dominated and constrained by great powers. [[Liberalism (international relations)|Liberal]] scholars counter that it is an effective organization because it has proved capable of solving many problems by working around the restrictions imposed by powerful member states. The UN is generally considered by scholars to be more effective in realms such as public health, and humanitarian assistance.<ref>{{cite web |last=Norley |first=Matthew John Ribeiro |date=2013 |title=Is the United Nations an Effective Institution?|url=https://www.e-ir.info/2013/02/23/is-the-united-nations-an-effective-institution/ |access-date=16 February 2022 |website=E-International Relations |language=en-US |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308204822/https://www.e-ir.info/2013/02/23/is-the-united-nations-an-effective-institution/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The ineffectiveness of enforcing [[territorial integrity]] in the 21st century<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jeria |first=Michelle Bachelet |date=2016 |title=The Challenges to International Law in the 21st Century |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-asil-annual-meeting/article/abs/challenges-to-international-law-in-the-21st-century/B4EC8B1CF5B483DB5368FF77F44452CE |journal=Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting |language=en |volume=110 |pages=3–11 |doi=10.1017/S0272503700102435 |issn=0272-5037}}</ref> have led to debate on possible re-emergence of the [[right of conquest]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10991-020-09250-3 |doi=10.1007/s10991-020-09250-3 |title=The Re-Emergence of Conquest: International Law and the Legitimate Use of Force |date=2020 |last1=Mulligan |first1=Michael |journal=Liverpool Law Review |volume=41 |issue=3 | pages=293–313}}</ref>