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T. Walsh: The United Nations at 70
Written by Thomas Walsh, President, UPF International
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Your Excellencies, Amb. Denis Antione of Grenada, Dr. Hamad, Minister Yu, distinguished Ambassadors for Peace from UPF Korea, ladies and gentlemen. I am honored to have been asked to speak today as part of the program that addresses the topic of “The UN at 70.”
It is indeed auspicious and noteworthy that we gather at this time, as so many important dates seem to converge: 70 years of the UN, 70 years since WW II ended, 70 years since Korea was liberated from occupation, 200 years since the Congress of Vienna, 800 years since the Magna Carta.
Our topic today is most appropriate and stimulating. The UN stands on the threshold of its 70th birthday. Its Secretary General is a Korean. The entry into the Korean War to repel the attack from the North in June 1950, was one the UN’s first major Security Council decisions, resolutions 82 and 83. After millions of casualties, refugees, divided families and displaced persons, an armistice was signed in 1953, and to this day, the Peninsula remains divided without a peace treaty having been signed.
The Korean peninsula continues to be one of the major geopolitical fault lines, continually on high alert, particularly in recent times, since North Korea has developed its own nuclear- and ballistic-missile capacity. The six-party talks did not succeed in resolving the crisis, and tensions remain high. Thus, for 65 of its 70 years, the Korean peninsula has been in an unresolved, frozen conflict.
Throughout human history, in response to the threat of war and violence, peoples have formed alliances to help secure the peace. In ancient Greece, more than 100 city states formed a Delian League, centered in Athens, to deter aggression from Persia.
In the 17th century, the Peace of Westphalia (1648), following the wars of religions in Europe, developed the idea of territorial sovereignty. This concept has served as the basis for the modern international system.
Following the Napoleonic Wars that erupted in Europe after the ill-dated French Revolution, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 resulted in a negotiated peace, involving the great powers of Austria, Prussia, England, Russia and France.
These milestones in many respects were precursors to the formation of the United Nations centuries later.
Of course, the intellectual ferment of the Enlightenment in Europe, and especially the work of Immanuel Kant, who crafted “Perpetual Peace” in 1795, was also a forceful foundation for the concept of international organizations for the sake of peace. Since Kant, it has largely been agreed that the increase of democratic, constitutional governments, coupled with increased international and interdependent trade relations and formation of international associations of free states, would result in a “perpetual peace.” To a great extent, Kant was right.
Of course, World War I was a dramatic and horrific disconfirmation of Kant’s ideals. No one could predict the level of violence, death and destruction that accompanied that virtually senseless war. It was as if humanity was being possessed by historical forces it could not comprehend or control. Nevertheless, as an outcome, following the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations was formed in 1920, as an attempt to prevent any future wars.
History, however, is not easily tamed. Less than two decades later, the violence of World War II descended on the entire globe. Another disaster of almost infinite proportion came like a cosmic plague.
As early as 1941, when Franklin Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill on the high seas of the Atlantic, they signed an “Atlantic Charter” as a set of principles for an international organization of free, independent states. One year later, 26 allied nations signed the “Declaration of United Nations.” In the Spring of 1945, before the war had come to an end, delegates of 50 nations gathered in San Francisco to draft the charter of what was to be the United Nations.
In October of 1945, the first General Assembly of the United Nations was convened in London, in the Methodist Great Hall Westminster.
Although war, conflict and violence continue after the formation of the United Nations, it is nevertheless a fact that no war comparable to the two great wars of the 20th century has occurred, and no use of a nuclear weapons has occurred. Wars have largely been relatively limited, as in Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, the Middle East, and in the Ukraine. War and conflicts that cost human lives are always unacceptable. And yet, things have gotten better in some respects over the years.
The existence of the United Nations, and especially the Security Council system, no doubt plays some role in the diminution of large-scale wars. At the same time, we can imagine that such factors as increased economic interdependence, a more highly evolved human consciousness, along with increased mutual fear of the impact of weapons of mass destruction, have also played a role.
At the same time, the UN itself faces some criticism for failing to adequately address critical problems such as we face in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine, or the rise of extremist groups and other destabilizing non-state actors. The instability on the Korean peninsula is also an indication of the Security Council’s inherent difficulties, as the permanent five are divided often on some of the world’s most critical issues, and each has the veto privilege that can block cooperative action.
I just returned from Vienna, Austria where UPF had a program at the UN Headquarters in Vienna, featuring a keynote address by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. As you know, she originally came from what is now North Korea. She lived through both the cruel occupation era and the Korean War period which resulted in the rise of militant communism installed at the time of Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the current leader of NK, Kim Jong Eun.
By the grace of God, she survived all manner of difficulty, guided by an unshakable faith in God as our Heavenly Parent.
Dr. Moon worked side by side with her late husband, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, for more than 52 years. They lived and worked together with an uncommon dedication to serving God and humanity for the sake of universal peace and prosperity.
True Father and True Mother have spoken on several occasions in venues of the United Nations, including a speech at the UN in New York in 1993, and again in the years 2000, 2001 and in 2008, in Geneva in 2005 and 2006, and in 2011, again in Geneva. Let me read a brief excerpt from her message in 2000, just prior to the Millennium General Assembly of the United Nations. On this occasion, Father and Mother Moon presented a proposal calling for the UN to consider the following: first of all, to establish an interreligious council within the UN system; secondly, to honor a day dedicated to the family and especially parents; and, thirdly, to establish peace zones on the borders between nations that have very serious border disputes, or conflicts or flash points that could lead to war; this would include places such as the Korean Peninsula, as well as the Ukraine, the border between India and China, the border between India and Pakistan, the border between Venezuela and Colombia, etc.
These three proposals illuminate some of the core areas of work of Father and Mother Moon:
- Interfaith dialogue is very important. Religions should work together. Religions should not work merely for their own benefit or their own growth and prosperity; furthermore, religions should work exclusively for peace and human development. Moreover, religions should not be disengaged from world affairs, but should be fully engaged in a responsible and sacrificial way.
- The family, centering on parents, is the cornerstone of a stable society. In the family, when parents are not respected or do not take their proper position, there can be no acceptable substitute. Government programs will continually fall short. The family is the fundamental unit of society and should be strengthened, respected and encouraged.
- The conflict between nations should be overcome through peace initiatives, through dialogue and through transnational projects, such as the construction of international trade routes, and free trade zones where people from all nations are encouraged to serve as peacebuilding volunteers. In this way a DMZ might be converted into a model community of peace and prosperity.
In relation to “peace zones” Father Moon said, on August 18, 2000:
….I have continually pondered about the United Nations’ solemn mission for building a world of peace and how this relates to God’s providence….I hope the entire demilitarized zone along the 155-mile military demarcation line that crosses the Korean Peninsula can be turned into a peace zone under UN jurisdiction….
Do you think God appreciates a Korean who says that the 38th parallel that divides the peninsula is a good thing? Of course not! Hence, if someone works hard to remove it, that person will become God’s favorite champion. If all seventy million Koreans have the determination to die for the cause of removing the 38th parallel, then the reunification of North and South Korea will come without doubt.
I want to quote from Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon’s speech on that day:
As part of my work I have been able to travel to and speak with citizens of most UN member states through large and small gatherings. Through my travels, I have seen that the problems afflicting our world – immorality, war, hunger, poverty, lack of education and disease – grow more serious with the passage of time. I believe, though, that the most serious problems facing our world today are, first, spiritual ignorance, that which makes humanity ignorant of God and the spiritual world that is our eternal homeland, and, second, the breakup of the family and the corruption of our youth.
God exists, and He is not a distant being who created the world and then abandoned it. Like any parent, God grieves when he see the suffering of His children. The most profound source of God’s suffering is the fact that humankind lost the ability to feel God’s heart. We do not feel that God is our parent, that all people are His children, and that we are all brothers and sisters.
Real brotherhood and sisterhood cannot be achieved without God and the ideal of universal true parents. My focus is the movement to establish true families on the solid bond of true love between husband and wife. It is only in the context of such families that the true parent model, true husband-wife model, and true children model can be established. True families are the foundation both for a world of peace and the prosperity of each individual country. (P. 62 Assembly 2000)
Those who formed the UN did not give serious attention to spiritual values and family values. What Dr. Moon underscores are serious weaknesses within the UN strategic vision.
At this time in the history of the UN, I think it is appropriate to heed Dr. Moon’s call for a spiritual awakening, not only in our temples, mosques, churches and places of worship, but in the halls of government, and even within the United Nations system.