The War in 2020: United Nations Peace Resolution and Strategy, Research Paper Example

What are your first steps? Explain which philosophical approaches to stabilization and conflict reduction you think best; assess which strategic alliances are likely to check the conflict; and, which concepts of just war and protection of civilians can be made part of a treaty.

The moment we talk about Middle East what do we visualize? Do we instantly see the myriad deserts, the panoramic beauty, the history or the posh Dubai Landscape? Neither… Much to our dismay…what we see is beyond skepticism. A terror ravaged country, with hostile masked men, waving their guns in praise of “Allah” and accolades of their triumph over America. Terror, hostility, suicide bombers and wounded children are mere synonyms that describe the state of the country. There is nothing more to envisage in the land except terror. Is destiny responsible for the wounded existence of Middle East or the consequences of the religious separation that occurred 1400 years ago?

Yes, there was a divide, a religious separation in the realm of Islam… Shia and Sunni both born in the womb of Islam but with separate set of ideology and practice. The Shia’s believe in the original legacy of Muhammad and are largely found in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Afghanistan Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and India while Sunnis believed in the leadership of the disciples of Muhammad.

What Is the Reason of the Present Day Conflict Between the Shia and the Sunni?

Well, there is a major confusion about the struggle between the two sects of the same religion. It is quite difficult to ascertain the real cause of such a massive violence and hatred against each other. Senator Trent Lott, in 2006 said “It’s hard for Americans, all of us including me to understand what’s wrong with these people. Why do they kill people of other religion because of religion? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites?” (public.cq.com) Both are Muslims and both follow “Allah”…however the religious struggle has now transformed into a political one. According to George Bush, the former President of United States, “The Shia and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat…whatever slogans they chant, when they slaughter the innocent, they have the same wicked purposes. They want to kill Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East, and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale.”(perrspectives.com)

Thus the Sunni-Shia conflict traces its roots in the Umayyad Caliphate during 661, and from then has been a major hurdle in the establishment of peace in the Middle East, especially in Iraq. On one hand the Shia tribes of the southern Euphrates, as well as the urban Shia population feared that the Sunni population being the majority would take total control of their life and government. Moreover, there was a disproportionate yet large number of Sunni in the administrative positions of the government. The favoritism of the Ottomans towards the Sunnis helped them to gain experience and high positions in the government while the Shia’s toiled and were oppressed.  The economic gap widened between both the factions and Shia’s lost most of their share to the Sunni’s. Thus the Shia’s intensified their efforts as well as rivalry to get more shares in the government and in economic considerations.

The First Step of the United Nations Negotiation Strategy to Prevent the War of 2010

Well to me, being the Secretary General of the United States, my prior concern would be to start the process from my home rather than Iraq…to strengthen my resources, the powers of the UN and make it stable before the American demands.

Policies to Be Adopted for the United States:

 To alienate America from playing double standards: America has followed a policy of contradicts with the Shia and Sunni populations. The Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, Jordan, Egypt and the— are all friends of America, and they are mostly governments which are led by Sunni kings or presidents.Again the United States is seen to back the Shiite government in Iraq… According to Professor Norton, a historian of the Middle East at Boston University, “The U.S. is building an alliance in the Arab world against Shiite Iran, and at the same time, the U.S. is trying to maintain friendly relations with a majority-Shiite government in Baghdad. I don’t think this is a very stable solution.” (npr.org) Thus my major step would be to propel the American ideology and interest in a unified direction, so that it does not create further tensions between the Shia and the Sunni.

1. Negotiation with America: America has to understand and acknowledge the fact that politics and military intervention in Iraq, has complicated the situation between the Shia and the Sunni. Increasing the forces in Iraq, political mandates and domination can never bring solution and stability to the country. Thus America should stop acting like the guardian of Iraq, and hand over the reins of governance and leadership to the people of Iraq, under the supervision of UN.
2. Requires patience and benevolence: UN has no magical powers so America should set their expectations right. The reconciliation procedure would require long term persuasion, and gaining their level of confidence for United Nations. Moreover, UN has to break the myth about its identity…people in Middle East view UN as a ‘pimp’ of United States …one that is functional only at the whims and wishes of the United States.
3. Moreover, America should specifically warn the Iraqi leadership, that if they fail to act in good faith with the United Nations, and would help UN to make them aware that any aboriginality would lead to withdraw of US support.

Policies to Be Adopted for Iraq:

1. Iraq should provide UN with a strong mandate and power; to mitigate and resolve internal insurgencies and conflict; to provide UN the authority to take major decisions in conciliation with the Iraqi government to solve the political and military disputes that arise within Iraq as well with its neighbors.
2. Work in tandem with UN and set up a list of goal and benchmarks for realizing and striving to implement important political tasks like national oil legislation.

Policies to Be Adopted by Un and Its Member Countries:

1. Gain support and acknowledgement from the United States as well as the Iraqi government to employ a high profile and experience SRSG (Special Representative of the Secretary-General). They are highly skilled and respected experts, appointed by UN, who would represent the Secretary General with head of states, pertaining to critical issues on human Rights. They would act as representatives to mitigate the tensions and quarrel between the Sia and the Sunni.
2. Propose for additional funding from the United States as well as other member nations, so as to pursue a defined and structured development process in the war ravaged Iraq. The development should be equivocal and related to both the Sunni and the Shia and they should feel the pulse of positive change irrespective of their religious separatism. Like a hydro-electric power station should not only meet the demands of the Shia populated area but also in the Sunni populated areas. Thus discrimination on any grounds whether political, regional, structural as well as infrastructural should be abandoned. This will eventually help them think of overall development of Iraq, rather than just the Shia or the Sunni.

3. Call for dialogue between the Shia and the Sunni: Dialogue will facilitate both the sects to understand the misery, chaos and bloodshed that are happening to both of them. It will help to isolate the extremist fringe and also will act as a psychological bondage between the enemies. My dialogue would comprise of: developing a common agenda for both parties, find out the areas of conflict, isolation of all means of violence, mediating and pacifying an ongoing conflict, proper education to clarify that they are actually not enemies and it was not the intention of God for them to fight like cats and dogs, and set up combined task forces to combat the existing violence.

Policies on Strategic Alliances of UN: 

The alliance within the neighboring countries of the Middle East could be one of the plausible and most important methods to bring in stabilization in the relationship of the Shia and the Sunni hostility. Iran has been apprehensive and acts as a major player in the Shia-Sunni tension. Hezbollah is often explained as a reawakening of Shia group and their battle for identity in the Muslim world with the explicit support of Iran. Iran has thus become a potential threat not only to America but to the entire Sunni countries. Saudi Arabia is concerned over the increased Shia influence in Lebanon. Now there are two major terror groups operating in the Middle East: the Hezbollah and the Hamas. Hezbollah was formed in response to Israel occupation in southern Lebanon in 1982. It was initially an underground movement but has now become a political party with the major backing of Lebanese Shiites. It also allies with Iran and Syria against Israel. Again Hamas, is a Sunni Muslim organisation; to interpret it as a standalone terror organisation would be prejudicial. It is a socio political movement of the people and has profound importance in the Palestinian society. Thus the countries who acknowledge Shia and Sunni conflict must be pacified and negotiated with. Syria breeds terrorism and equips the hostile groups with financial aid and military technology. I would initiate an alliance with Syria, and in composite dialogues would appeal them to vacate favouritism to terrorists. Then is Iran and its autocratic upsurge in the global terrorism network. It supports Shia uprising and fuels the Shia factions in Iraq to wage a continuous war of terror in the country. It mainly supports the terrorist factions in the broader objective to be recognised as the most dominant and indigenous power in the Middle East. My effort would be to reconcile and get the Iranian support to bring about a peace process in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, one of the most staunch and arrogant Muslim…would never relent to such a treaty or pact, which would ensure stability or peace in the region. However, much because of the fact, that he has a blind urge to be the superpower of Middle East.  My role would be to calculate and proportionate suitable negotiations so that Iran gets highlighted in the global scenario and also help it in the process of negotiation with America and the incessant pressure regarding its nuclear power. Iran would also be given the assurance of protection from other Middle East powers in return of abandoning the cause and sponsorship of terrorism. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt would also be taken into confidence for ensuring peace process between Shia and the Sunni- implying a total peace initiative among the Middle East Countries. My strategy would largely involve in the joint collaboration of all the Middle East countries in the resolution to peace.

Just War implies a war fought in genuine self defence. However a treaty needs to be formulated within these countries to make them more secure…instead of always planning assault and fight. Firstly, the treaty would encompass the fact that, any country wanting to wage a assault or war against another must fulfill the ‘just cause’…just cause repels and refuses to accept offensive wars. The tragedies in Somalia, Rwanda, and Kosovo have forced the authorities to reconsider the just cause. According to William V. O’Brien, “There is an increasing recognition that military intervention against repressive, genocide regimes may meet the condition of just cause, even if the intervening power has little or no claim of self-defence. Indeed, it can be argued that there may be not only a moral right but a moral duty to intervene in such situations—provided the other conditions of just war like protection of the life of civilians are met”. Such a treaty would stop the atrocities of the incessant attacks of the terror powers in each of the countries with the Shia and Shiite population. Thus no more child shield would be used, neither illegal organisations will have the authority to wage war and terror. Only the political authorise, with the clear sanction of the majority…could ever think of war on just cause.

Conclusion

The Sunni-Shia conflict has wounded the Middle East badly. They have almost broken the backbone of their economy and the prospects of their future generation. The Quran, Muhammad, Allah, Kaba and the five pillars of Islam are the original brethren of the Muslims as a whole. Dissection, division and separation are human manoeuvres that were essentially created to serve personal interests. Thus a combined approach to peace process is required, with a positive attempt in changing the stereotypes and to gauge in the present platform whether war would suit them or overall development and peace. My role as a teacher, a guide and a true friend could finally insinuate and formulate a country, that shines in the bright sun and doesn’t dozz off in darkness of ash and death.

Reference

Momen, Moojan,(1985) An Introduction to Shi’i Islam, Yale University Press

Robin Wright and Peter Baker, (2004), Iraq: Jordan Sees Threat to the Election from Iran

Nasr, Vali, (2006) The Shia Revival www.stanleyfoundation.org