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Do not fill this in! === Post-Cold War (1991–present) === [[File:Kofi Annan 2012 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Kofi Annan]], secretary-general from 1997 to 2006]] [[File:UN Members Flags2.JPG|thumb|Flags of member nations at the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations Headquarters]], seen in 2007]] [[File:UN70.JPG|thumb|right|Marking of the UN's 70th anniversary – Budapest, 2015]] After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in five years than it had in the previous four decades.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Matanock|first=Aila M.|year=2020|title=How International Actors Help Enforce Domestic Deals|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|language=en|volume=23|issue=1|pages=357–383|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050718-033504|doi-access=free|issn=1094-2939}}</ref> Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased by more than tenfold.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chinapower.csis.org/china-un-mission/|title=Is China contributing to the United Nations' mission?|publisher=CSIS China Power|date=7 March 2016|access-date=25 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920022437/http://chinapower.csis.org/china-un-mission/|archive-date=20 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Fasulo, p. 43; Meisler, p. 334</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Z/pk_tables/expend.pdf|title=Peacekeeping Operations Expenditures: 1947–2005|last=Renner|first=Michael|website=[[Global Policy Forum]]|access-date=4 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330130052/https://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Z/pk_tables/expend.pdf|archive-date=30 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The UN negotiated an end to the [[Salvadoran Civil War]], launched a successful [[United Nations Transition Assistance Group|peacekeeping mission in Namibia]], and oversaw democratic elections in post-[[Apartheid in South Africa|apartheid]] South Africa and post-[[Khmer Rouge]] Cambodia.<ref>Meisler, pp. 252–56</ref> In 1991, the UN authorized a [[Gulf War|US-led coalition]] that repulsed Iraq's [[invasion of Kuwait]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=264–277}} [[Brian Urquhart]], the under-secretary-general of the UN from 1971 to 1985, later described the hopes raised by these successes as a "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=334}} Beginning in the last decades of the [[Cold War]], critics of the UN condemned the organization for perceived mismanagement and corruption.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=226–227}} In 1984, American President [[Ronald Reagan]] withdrew the United States' funding from the [[UNESCO|United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation]] (or UNESCO) over allegations of mismanagement, followed by the United Kingdom and Singapore.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=234–237}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Paul |date=6 August 1996 |title=Jean Gerard, 58, Reagan Envoy Who Led U.S. to Leave Unesco |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/06/world/jean-gerard-58-reagan-envoy-who-led-us-to-leave-unesco.html |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=6 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121021748/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/06/world/jean-gerard-58-reagan-envoy-who-led-us-to-leave-unesco.html |archive-date=21 January 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]], the secretary-general from 1992 to 1996, initiated a reform of the Secretariat, somewhat reducing the size of the organisation.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=285–286}}<ref name="NST" /> His successor, [[Kofi Annan]], initiated further management reforms in the face of threats from the US to withhold its UN dues.<ref name="NST">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19980116&id=TvxOAAAAIBAJ&pg=4023,6546189 |title=Are UN reforms just reshuffling of the deck? |date=16 January 1998 |work=[[New Straits Times]] |access-date=5 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906023654/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19980116&id=TvxOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-BQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4023,6546189 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in the early 1990s the UN faced several simultaneous, serious crises within Somalia, Haiti, Mozambique, and the nations that previously made up Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|pp=66–67}} The [[United Nations Operation in Somalia II|UN mission in Somalia]] was widely viewed as a failure after the United States' withdrawal following casualties in the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]]. The [[United Nations Protection Force|UN mission to Bosnia]] faced worldwide ridicule for its indecisive and confused mission in the face of ethnic cleansing.<ref>For quotation "worldwide ridicule", see Meisler, p. 293; for a description of UN missions in Somalia and Bosnia, see Meisler, pp. 312–329.</ref> In 1994, the [[United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda|UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda]] failed to intervene in the [[Rwandan genocide]] amidst indecision in the Security Council.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=104}} From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, international interventions authorized by the UN took a wider variety of forms. The [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244]] authorised the [[NATO]]-led [[Kosovo Force]] beginning in 1999. The [[United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone|UN mission]] in the [[Sierra Leone Civil War]] was supplemented by a [[British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War|British military intervention]]. The [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|invasion of Afghanistan in 2001]] was overseen by NATO.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|pp=110–111}} In 2003, the United States [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invaded Iraq]] despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the UN's effectiveness.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=111}} Under the eighth secretary-general, [[Ban Ki-moon]], the UN intervened with peacekeepers in crises such as the [[War in Darfur]] in Sudan and the [[Kivu conflict]] in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and sent observers and chemical weapons inspectors to the [[Syrian Civil War]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/08/world/meast/syria-civil-war/ |title=Syria: Chemical weapons team faces many dangers, says UN chief Ban |author=Smith-Spark, Laura |date=8 October 2013 |publisher=CNN |access-date=18 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224619/http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/08/world/meast/syria-civil-war/ |archive-date=2 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, [[Secretary-General's Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka|an internal review]] of UN actions in [[Alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War|the final battles]] of the [[Sri Lankan Civil War]] in 2009 concluded that the organization had suffered a "systemic failure".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.firstpost.com/world/un-failed-during-final-days-of-lankan-ethnic-war-ban-ki-moon-1133061.html |title=UN failed during final days of Lankan ethnic war: Ban Ki-moon |agency=Press Trust of India |date=25 September 2013 |work=FirstPost |access-date=5 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030080724/http://www.firstpost.com/world/un-failed-during-final-days-of-lankan-ethnic-war-ban-ki-moon-1133061.html |archive-date=30 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, the organization suffered the worst loss of life in its history, when 101 personnel died in the [[2010 Haiti earthquake|Haiti earthquake]].<ref name="unmilestones2001to2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-2001-2010/index.html|title=UN Milestones 2001–2010|website=United Nations|access-date=1 November 2017|date=21 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106195215/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-2001-2010/index.html|archive-date=6 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Acting under the [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973]] in 2011, [[NATO]] countries intervened in the [[First Libyan Civil War]]. The [[Millennium Summit]] was held in 2000 to discuss the UN's role in the 21st century.<ref name="BBCagenda">{{cite news |date=7 December 2000 |title=UN summit agenda; The largest gathering of world leaders in history meets in New York to discuss the role of the United Nations in the 21st century. |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/904903.stm |access-date=22 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707210932/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/904903.stm |archive-date=7 July 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The three-day meeting was the largest gathering of world leaders in history, and it culminated in the adoption by all member states of the [[Millennium Development Goals]] (or MDGs), a commitment to achieve international development in areas such as [[poverty reduction]], [[gender equality]] and [[public health]]. Progress towards these goals, which were to be met by 2015, was ultimately uneven. The [[2005 World Summit]] reaffirmed the UN's focus on promoting development, peacekeeping, human rights and global security.<ref>{{cite web |title=2005 World Summit Outcome |publisher=United Nations |url=https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/2005%20World%20Summit%20Outcome.pdf |access-date=1 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109083250/https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/2005%20World%20Summit%20Outcome.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Sustainable Development Goals]] (or SDGs) were launched in 2015 to succeed the Millennium Development Goals.<ref name="Sustainable Development Goals">{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ |title=Sustainable Development Goals |website=United Nations |access-date=2 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102011425/http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ |archive-date=2 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to addressing global challenges, the UN has sought to improve its accountability and democratic legitimacy by engaging more with [[civil society]] and fostering a global constituency.<ref>{{cite web|title=Communicating to a global constituency: UN Day in Paris|url=http://unu.edu/news/announcements/un-day-in-paris.html|website=unu.edu|publisher=United Nations University|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124160734/http://unu.edu/news/announcements/un-day-in-paris.html|archive-date=24 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In an effort to enhance transparency, in 2016 the organization held its first public debate between candidates for secretary-general.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Falk|first1=Pamela|title=Can U.N. regain trust with an experiment in transparency?|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-secretary-general-candidate-debate-united-nations-trust/|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=13 July 2016 |publisher=CBS News|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125043926/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-secretary-general-candidate-debate-united-nations-trust/|archive-date=25 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 January 2017, Portuguese diplomat [[António Guterres]], who had previously served as the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|UN High Commissioner for Refugees]], became the ninth secretary-general. Guterres has highlighted several key goals for his administration, including an emphasis on diplomacy for preventing conflicts, more effective peacekeeping efforts, and streamlining the organization to be more responsive and versatile to international needs.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Guterres|first1=António|title=U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres: My Vision for Revitalizing the United Nations |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2017/01/20/davos-2017-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres-opinion-540326.html|website=Newsweek.com|publisher=Newsweek|access-date=13 January 2017|date=9 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112222146/http://www.newsweek.com/2017/01/20/davos-2017-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres-opinion-540326.html|archive-date=12 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> On 13 June 2019, the UN signed a Strategic Partnership Framework with the [[World Economic Forum]] in order to "jointly accelerate" the implementation of the [[2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tedeneke |first=Alem |date=2019-06-13 |title=World Economic Forum and UN Sign Strategic Partnership Framework |url=https://www.weforum.org/press/2019/06/world-economic-forum-and-un-sign-strategic-partnership-framework/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230107201341/https://www.weforum.org/press/2019/06/world-economic-forum-and-un-sign-strategic-partnership-framework/ |archive-date=2023-01-07 |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=[[World Economic Forum]] |language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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