Published Paper Details:

The United Nations UN was created in 1945 in order to become the major instrument of international governance, with the responsibility to maintain international peace and security, promote human rights, economic and social development. Its continued relevance, especially during the time frame of 2004-2014, has been subjected to verdicts, which have invited a lot of scholarly attention due to the emergence and changes in global challenges. Thus, the current research highlights the role, successes, and shortcomings of the UN over the post-Cold War period and focuses specifically on its performance in facing the challenges of conflicts, humanitarian crisis, climate change and sustainable development. The organization has certainly done tremendous work in terms of peacekeeping, human right enhancement, economic-development programs, but with this has come repeated criticism of its inefficiencies, Security-Council stalemates and the growing ascendancy of the role of regional organizations. In an attempt to clarify such dynamics, the paper critically examines some of the UN operations and their results whether successful or unsuccessful interventions. It then proceeds to look at the difficulties of UN reform, the biggest being enlargement of the Security Council and the concomitant emergence of new world powers. Finally, the paper provides some thoughts on the future ability of the organization to adapt to the changing geopolitical realities and stay a successful arena of multilateral cooperation.