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AP Human Geography 3.3 Political Organization of Space 29 Views


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Description:

What CAN'T the UN do? If we had to guess, we'd say...make the Statue of Liberty disappear. Yeah. There's only one David Copperfield.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

And here’s your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by

00:06

sending peacekeepers to conflict areas...

00:09

I wonder if they’re free for our next Thanksgiving dinner.

00:12

Okay, here’s our question: The UN is the premier international organization

00:17

and can do all of the following except what?

00:20

And here are potential answers:

00:26

All right, well, the United Nations was established in 1945 after World War II

00:31

in an effort to prevent future conflicts.

00:34

It replaced the largely ineffective League of Nations, not to be confused

00:38

with the extremely effective Justice League.

00:42

Heck, if someone had had the foresight to put the Justice League in charge,

00:44

we wouldn’t have even had to have World War II.

00:47

So, could our answer be A: "levy economic sanctions on countries”?

00:51

Well, remember, we’re looking for something the UN can’t do,

00:54

and levying economic sanctions against countries that step out of line?

00:58

Well, it's actually one of their favorite things to do.

01:00

That, and play really mean pranks on people… sneaky UN.

01:04

Anyway, that whole “levy economic sanctions” thing

01:06

is a good way to punish countries that violate human rights

01:08

or act too aggressively without actually sending in troops.

01:11

It’s basically like your mom cutting off your allowance when you get in trouble,

01:15

only it's on a global scale here.

01:17

Well, A is not our answer. What about B: “send peacekeepers to conflict areas”?

01:22

Well, this is actually something else the UN does on a regular basis.

01:25

Those soldiers you see on the news with blue helmets?

01:28

Yeah, those are peacekeepers,

01:30

and they’re sent to different parts of the world

01:31

in order to create strife and mayhem.

01:33

Just kidding…

01:34

They actually keep the peace in war-torn areas that need some help

01:37

stabilizing and getting back to normal, like—

01:40

anyway, we can get get rid of B.

01:41

Next up to bat? C: “request military assistance in the form of troops

01:46

and equipment from member states.” Well, those peacekeepers

01:49

we just mentioned? They aren't actually part of a standing UN army.

01:53

When the UN needs troops and supplies,

01:55

it calls upon its member states to supply them.

01:57

Then, they plop a blue helmet on their heads, and bam: peacekeepers.

02:01

It’s like how you’ve got all those different clones and recruits,

02:04

but once they put the helmet on, they’re all stormtroopers...

02:08

Except, the UN and the Empire have very different mission statements.

02:11

So we can cross off C… which brings us to E:

02:13

“fund technology grants to any country.”

02:16

You know why no one in your neighborhood it attempting to

02:19

burn your crops and steal your possessions?

02:22

Yeah, well, because everyone’s too busy playing Pokémon GO.

02:25

Seriously, though, there’s a lot less to fight about when everyone has access

02:29

to the resources they need to live happy lives.

02:31

Improving access to technology plays a huge role in that,

02:35

and that's why the UN funds tech grants to countries.

02:38

So, our answer isn’t E, and that leaves us just with D:

02:40

“legally bind members to intervene in genocide, ethnic cleansing,

02:45

and crimes against humanity.” See, as much power as the UN wields,

02:50

it still can’t force members to intervene in another country’s business,

02:54

even if that business is truly despicable.

02:57

You might keep your own room clean, but imagine if your parents

02:59

then tried to force you to clean your sister’s room.

03:02

Well, there’d probably be some backlash there, right? So, the correct answer is D.

03:06

The UN are like the hall monitors of the world: They can get you in trouble,

03:09

but they also rely on the teachers to step in and enforce their ruling.

03:14

You know who wouldn’t require that extra step?

03:16

Yeah, the Justice League… We messed up, guys.

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