Literary Festival 2016: United Nations on Trial [Audio]

Speaker(s): The Hon. Mr Justice Jay, Gráinne Mellon, Professor Gerry Simpson, Paul Clark, Natalie Samarasinghe, Dr Nazila Ghanea, Professor Francoise Hampson, Antony Loewenstein, Carne Ross | The Charter of the United Nations, drafted in 1945, pledged in the name of the peoples of the United Nations to save us from the scourge of war; to reaffirm faith in human rights and the dignity and worth of all; to promote social progress and better standards of life in conditions of freedom. One does not have to take a very long look at the world around us to realise that this utopia of cosmopolitan peace and prosperity has not been achieved. Wars still wage, new and old global political divisions still run deep, the disparities in the global distribution of wealth are staggering. Is this conclusive proof that the UN has failed? Is it politically toothless and manipulated by the world’s most powerful states, as some believe? Has it become a bureaucratic, inflexible, cumbersome mega- structure pr