Friday, September 20, 2013

Why are countries like North Korea, Somalia, and Afghanistan part of the United Nations? Shouldn't they get kicked out and punished for crimes...

There are two main reasons why the United Nations does not expel countries like the ones you mention.  First, the UN wants to keep as many countries as possible within the organization in hopes of helping them improve themselves.  Second, it would be very difficult to expel most countries.


As you can see in the link below, it is possible for the UN to expel a country.  However, the Security Council has to recommend that the country be expelled.  This is very unlikely to happen.  Let us look at the countries you mention.  North Korea is allied with China, which is a permanent member of the Security Council.  China would almost surely veto any attempt to expel North Korea. Afghanistan’s regime has been put in place and propped up by the US, which is also on the Security Council.  The US would not allow Afghanistan to be expelled.  In order to expel any country, the Security Council would need the unanimous consent of China, the US, France, Great Britain, and Russia.  This is very unlikely to happen.


Just as importantly, the UN does not want to expel countries.  The UN is an organization that is dedicated to improving the world and making it more peaceful.  The organization can only do its job if it engages countries.  If the UN were to expel North Korea, for example, it would no longer have any leverage over that country.  It would have no way to try to influence North Korea and improve its behavior.  Think about this in terms of a child at school who misbehaves.  The school might like to be rid of the child, but then they would lose the chance to have any effect on that child’s life.  If the UN expelled countries that acted badly, it would forfeit any chance of influencing those countries to mend their ways.  Thus, expelling countries would be counterproductive to the UN’s goals.

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