The Role of Media in the United Nations In The Global Promotion of the Culture of Peace

Introduction

This study discusses a topic of great interest and importance to the world of international media. It focuses on the idea of how the media is used by the UN to promote the culture of peace worldwide. There’s no doubt that today, the new world order is passing through major and quick changes, especially after the dissolving of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. Moreover, revolutions have occurred in many countries, the most notable of which was the so called Arab Spring that happened in countries like Libya, Syria, Egypt…etc. That is, the world has witnessed major transformations in the last twenty five years; radical changes occurred on the economic, social and political levels. The call for democracy by the United States, for example, has increased the form of soft power. However, such a policy as well as others taken by various nation states has led to dramatic violence and disputes in many places of the world. Moreover, new strategic and political policies have been adopted by many states of the international community to comply with the transformation taking place. A very small number of states seem to be playing the leading roles in the game, while the majority is mere perceivers of what’s going on, with no specific role to play. ( El-Shimy, 2015).

The researcher believes that the race and competition that has once characterized the world, especially during the era of the Cold War, has re appeared. A strong evidence of this hostility is the positions of both Russia and the U.S. in current global events. While Russia aspires to regain its world status, the United States is worried about its hegemonic power and feels threatened. Moreover, as Russia consolidates its presence in the Middle East, it has taken a number of counter actions to those adopted by the U.S. and the International Community, an example of which is in the case of Libya and Syria. There is a very clear transition from a uni polar system to a bi polar one where both the United States and Russia are strong competitors for power. In the meantime, China has all the necessary potential to join the competition; however it is currently completely concentrating on its economic development and international status. (El-Shimy, 2015).

In the meantime, the UN has been trying to implement new strategic measures for promoting international peace and security. In fact, after its establishment in 1945, the UN started its initiative towards global peace. Since then, the UN has been considered the most important and advanced institution in international security. However, the UN has had a mixed record of ups and downs or strengths and weaknesses in this aspect. The UN has continued to exist because states have established it to serve their needs, and has been perceived as a means to maintain and promote international stability and global security. Although states are the major actors in decision making regarding issues of peace and security, there are also non state actors that play major roles, basically the International Governmental Organizations (IGOs), the most important of which is the UN. Thus, the UN is not a world government but is considered the closest thing to a world government that has ever existed. (Goldstein, 2008). That is, the UN members are sovereign states, and therefore, the United Nations isn't empowered to enforce its will within territories of states without the consent of the governments of those states. Despite of this, it's believed that the existence of the UN strengthens world order somehow. It's designed as such to match and acknowledge the truth of international anarchy, and to reduce the unwillingness of nation states to surrender their own sovereignty. In other words, the main purpose of the UN is to provide a world institutional structure that can help states settle conflicts with less dependence on the use of force. (Goldstein, 2008). To be able to do that, the UN has to reach a consensus and an international awareness of the new role states and people have to play in the world.

     Therefore, the role of the UN extends to promote and coordinate development assistance as well as different programs of social and economic growth in the so called global South. Such programs reflect and imply the belief that major problems, both economic and social, the most major of which is poverty, are the basic source of world conflicts and war. The Economic and Social Council of the UN is the means by which the General Assembly oversees a number of major programs focusing on advancing economic growth as well as social stability in poor countries of the global south. (Goldstein, 2008). It’s also through such programs, that the UN helps to manage relations between the rich and poor states, as it attempts to organize a flow of skills and resources from the rich parts of the globe to support the growth and development of poor states.

This is especially true because in the new global system, the underdeveloped and developing states don’t have the means to protect themselves as there is no guarantee for peace and security. Ethnic and religious disputes are the most important forces that shape most of the armed conflicts in the world today. Wars range from hegemonic war over the control of the total world order, to total war to occupy a country, to a limited war to gain some objective, to raids that are limited and consist of one action, to civil war between fractions within a state, to guerilla war without a front line…and others. (Goldstein, 2008).

Research Significance:

The researcher believes this topic is significant for the following reasons:

1. As a result of the current political events taking place as well as international disputes and conflicts, it seems appropriate to study the notion of a Culture of Peace in more details with a special focus of the role of the media and how it’s used by the UN in the promotion of global peace.

2. To study the extent to which the UN has been able to spread a Culture of Peace on a global level and to attain world peace and security under different conditions and circumstances. This is greatly important, especially that the main purpose for the establishment of the UN was basically to maintain peace and security.

3. The New World Order is passing through major changes, especially after the dissolving of the Soviet Union. As a result, nation states are trying to implement new political and strategic policies to comply with these changes. Therefore, the prospects of Culture of Peace may be changing internationally, and this may affect the whole global system. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the international community and the UN to focus on the notion of a Culture of Peace and unify the world under its banner.

4. As the New World order is based on the liberalization of most sectors of international trade, the United Nations grants the under-developed states special treats to help them incorporate in the New World order. One of the major determinants for the success of this new order is the commitment of developed industrial states as well as international organizations to supplement the developing states with financial and technical assistance. This in turn can enable the developing states to respond to the administrative and technical needs of the New World Order, which in turn will be reflected on the Culture of Peace and the attainment of this culture world wide.

5. Since global events have been occurring very fast during the last decades, attempting to understand and analyze the Culture of Peace in order to make some predictions on its future seems to be a challenging matter.

6. The availability of resources on the subject, mainly periodicals and books written by international scholars is very tempting and encouraging to work on this particular topic.

Methodology:

As this study attempts to investigate the role of media in the UN in the promotion of the culture of peace, special focus is made on the factors that have strengthened this role. The Culture of Peace has been an important goal since the establishment of the UN, and has pre-occupied a great number of academic political thinkers for many years. Thus, the Culture of Peace will be studied, described, defined, analyzed, explained and evaluated in order to reach specific results. Some reference will be made to the historical period and the formation of the Culture of Peace. Some cases will be presented to show how the UN in general and the UNESCO in particular use the media in the promotion of the culture of peace. To do so, the researcher attempts to rely on two approaches:

• The Descriptive Approach is used to observe and describe the phenomena under discussion. Also, analysis is done according to observation, and then evaluation and predictions are made.
• The Normative Approach is also used to predict what should be done to solve the problem and what can be done about it.

In the meantime, the researcher mainly relies on the qualitative method of approach in order to introduce new proofs and conclusions to the concept of Culture of Peace and how the UN attempts to implement it worldwide. This may help answer some questions related to what the Culture of Peace implies and the interpretation of current events, particularly those which are related to the Culture of Peace. In addition to that, the key terms are defined and discussed in terms of the relationship to the topic and contemporary events. Furthermore, the method of research used focuses on interpretation and tends to be subjective rather than objective. Case studies will also be presented in order to investigate how the Culture of Peace is implemented in the real life context. Also, all through the study, there is a strong reliance on multiple sources to reach acceptable results and make necessary recommendations.