Should a permanent UN Military Force be Established?.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has been a major help in keeping peace around the globe. The UN has striven to create forums as an alternative to war, it has made efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons, and it has placed diplomatic and economic sanctions in peacekeeping efforts. The UN also has the authority to dispatch troops in peacekeeping efforts and mediation. Debate arises when the idea of a standing UN army is proposed. While the UN has been using military troops and police from countries all over the world for the past 50 years, it has never had a true standing army totally under control of the United Nations. Proponents of this idea claim that many wars and disasters could have been averted if the UN had a standing army that could be dispatched quickly. It could also potentially save everyone a lot of money. The opponents of this idea say that the army will have little use and will be too costly (148-149). .
At the moment, no proposal of a UN standing army is being seriously considered but in the article "A New Perspective on Peacekeeping", Joseph Schwartzberg proposes a possible solution for this debate. Joseph Schwartzberg claims that so much can be improved if a UN peace core is established. Schwartzberg says that every day there is a growing need for an all-volunteer force of peacekeepers, which are under the sole control of the United Nations. Schwartzberg does an excellent job in his essay. He proposes a detailed way of creating a standing army at the UN's disposal without a ridiculous cost. Schwartzberg discusses UN failures in countries such as Rwanda and Bosnia. He explains that these major disasters could have been averted if the UN had acted in time. Schwartzberg goes on to explain how growing ethnic, religious, and racial conflicts pose a treat to safety around the world.
