You. Yes, you! You can make a difference. You can change the world.
Haven’t we all heard that before?
Rather than disregard this statement as outlandish, you should let that thought and its limitless potential sink in. We are all interdependent global citizens whose actions drastically affect others.
The general apathy of the student population on world issues is regressive, dangerous to world security, and reflective of the United States’ indifferent attitude toward the United Nations.
Last week, Gillian Sorensen, former assistant secretary-general for external relations under the former Secretary General Kofi Annan, proved that students could take control of the world’s future. She spoke on the image of the United Nations and the leading role the United States ““ and especially students ““ must play to ensure a fairer and more peaceful world.
Born from the dregs of fear and hope that originated from World War II, the United Nations first began in 1945 as a force that inspired faith in its goals of fostering human rights and social cooperation. Why then, is the U.N. now construed as weak, ineffective, bogged down by bureaucracy and inefficient in politically representing developing nations?
The belittled perception of the U.N. in the United States is largely due to the government’s dismissal of its importance, but also to the validity of some of these claims.
Sorensen regards the United Nations as a place “where idealism and realism meet” and where nations express their sovereignty.
And therein lies the problem: Nations express their sovereignty, but some nations are overwhelmingly more powerful than others. Inequality within the bureaucracy of the U. N. is most apparent when surveying the Security Council, an institutional structure created to promote international peace and defend international law.
With unequal representation and outdated concepts from the past, the Security Council needs to reform and become more flexible in order to truly serve as a democratic global institution.
But though the U.N. may be ineffective, divided and bureaucratic, it is still indispensable as the only, let alone the largest, forum where all countries should have a voice.
That leaves us, the students, not only to improve the internal problems of unequal representation, corruption and weakness in the U.N., but also to reinvigorate the sense of optimism that international cooperation and diplomacy once emanated.
It is in our interest and within our power and means to represent the U.S. and inspire friendship and respect, not fear and resentment in our fellow nations.
So, you still want to change the world? Become fluent in a language. Or better yet, make that two or three. Take charge of your education and remember that your actions produce striking effects globally. Be open-minded, culturally sensitive and humble.
As constituents of only 4 percent of the world’s population, we need to learn how to relate positively and harmoniously to the other 96 percent.
E-mail Do at ndo@media.ucla.edu. General comments can be sent to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.