It is easy to ridicule, criticize or dismiss the United Nations.
The continuing existence of bloody crises around the world and the inability of the organization to do much about them are the most obvious indications of its failure. That this occurs while the U.N. engages in pageantry, pomp and bombast further incites its critics.
But the expectation that the U.N. can solve such crises is unrealistic. Governments, either those directly involved or those seeking to fix them, typically handle problems themselves when they can. The U.N. is only invoked when those options are untenable and its role is to draw attention to a crisis or problem, focus greater resources upon and contain it. These may not be ambitious objectives but they are important and valuable nevertheless.
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