“Inconclusion”: Why Real Reform Might Not Be Possible

Abstract

There are many nonfiction books that describe a problem and then conclude with the author’s recommendations on how to resolve that problem. This chapter will take a different approach. It will describe some of the solutions that have been proposed. It will then explain why those suggestions are largely unworkable and describe where the real possibilities for improvement lie. It will also assess why the obstacles to those chances for improvement are unlikely to be overcome. Since the creation of the UN at the end of World War II, peacekeeping has gradually become more necessary, more possible, and much more difficult. The decolonization that began after the war, as European countries gave independence to countries in Africa and elsewhere, followed by the breakup of the Soviet Union, created a whole host of nations. They had their freedom, but they also had weak economies and political institutions. How weak was a function of who the colonial power was, how much that power cared about educating and training the local population, and whether the transition to independence was gradual or abrupt. Ready or not, these new nations were much of the reason why the UN went from its original 55 countries to the 193 member states today.