Inside the Issues 3.9 | The United Nations System

The United Nations (UN) system includes an array of specialized agencies and bodies that cover a broad range of ideas from human rights and democracy to nuclear non-proliferation and global governance. What's working well? What isn't? Are the criticisms of some of the major organs, such as the Security Council, valid? Which functional agencies are in need of strengthening? Alistair Edgar, ACUNS (The Academic Council on the United Nations System), stops by Inside the Issues for a discussion of the UN system, its strengths and its weaknesses. He notes that while we tend to think of the UN as a huge bureaucracy with ample resources, it is far smaller, weaker and underfunded than we may imagine.