It is hard to disagree that numerous issues and opportunities for improvement made the delegates from fifty peace-searching nations meet in 1945 in San Francisco, California, and hold the United Nations Conference. They wanted to make the world a better place for all, and the realization that this goal was impossible without signing an agreement served as the key reason for creating the United Nations (“The San Francisco Conference,” n.d.). Many issues were at stake, including friendship and cooperation between the countries, trade, security and freedom, social and economic guarantees and improvements, and free communication (Popowycz, 2022). Participating nations wanted to achieve all the listed concepts and make sure that wars were no longer a means to express their views or enhance positions. However, one may agree that the most important matter was the concept of equality, and it is challenging to identify whether it was resolved.
First of all, it is of vital importance to explore why the equality of nations is the issue that stands above all others and can be considered even more important than mutual security and freedom. Overall, one may indicate that the latter two concepts cannot be achieved if countries are not equal, and their equality means not their similar military or financial resources or extent of borders. On the contrary, even small and large nations have to be equal in their abilities to express opinions, participate in common decision-making, and contribute to the work of the United Nations in all other ways (Popowycz, 2022). Consequently, if equality is not maintained, some receive more rights and responsibilities than others, creating more causes to declare war and fight for these rights to become similar. This is the main reason to consider the identified issue the most significant in the list of other problems that were discussed during the conference.
Interestingly, this matter was questioned even when the participating countries voted for the creation and work of the United Nations. Bradley noticed that a severe problem “arose out of the difficulty of reconciling the theory of international law-that all nations are equal- with the facts of international life- that some are more powerful and influential than others” (as cited in Popowycz, 2022, para. 26). In other words, larger nations with more resources and tasks expected to receive more rights, which eliminated the principle of equality and did not satisfy minor nations. The latter “insisted that they were sovereign equivalents to larger nations and should have an equal say in peacekeeping missions” (Popowycz, 2022, para. 26). As a consequence, the countries’ representatives found a way to maintain this equality to some extent, ensuring that all nations could participate in an executive organ known as the Security Council (Popowycz, 2022). Therefore, this fact proves that the concept of equality serves as the basis for the creation and work of the UN.
As for now, it is possible to indicate the relative success of the United Nations in resolving the problem of inequalities. Indeed, the UN can be highlighted as an organization that gives equal representation to all its members, notwithstanding whether it is a large or small state (UN Geneva Conferences, 2020). However, it is quite arguable whether the participating nations are actually equal and have similar rights and voice power. Although more justice and equality exist now, there is still much to do, and the UN needs to find new ways to ensure that inequalities cannot serve as the basis for a new war.
References
Popowycz, J. (2022). The 1945 San Francisco Conference and the creation of the United Nations. The National WWII Museum. Web.
The San Francisco Conference. (n.d.). United Nations. Web.
UN Geneva Conferences. (2020). United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco Conference, 1945 [Video]. YouTube. Web.