“If NATO had protected Turkey and others more strongly when necessary, Russia could be more hesitant about causing real problems in the world.”
Esma Bozdoğan*
Russian – Ukrainian war is crucial in many aspects, especially in evaluating the effectiveness of international organizations. The role of international organizations, in general, is debatable, mainly in international relations. It is well known that liberals see non-governmental organizations as real actors in the international system. On the contrary, realists only attach importance to the states.
In this article, whether there is a role of international organizations like the UN and NATO on the Ukrainian issue will be discussed, and the question of whether international organizations can be part of any solution to a certain problem in the world will be asked.
The Stance of the UN and NATO in the Russian – Ukrainian War
António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has made several statements regarding the Russian-Ukrainian War from the beginning of the war until today. At the end of February, the UN Security Council convened to condemn Russia’s attacks and called for soldiers to return to their barracks.
Interestingly, Gueterres added that the “UN has tried to stop the war, but it did not achieve that today”, which was more like a confession rather than a press conference. Also, he declared that the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will donate 20 billion dollars to the urgent needs of Ukraine.
In April, Gueterres visited Ukraine and said facing a war in the 21st century is “absurd”. (Harding, 13.08.2022) In May, again, Guterres declared that the meaningless war which caused a lot of pain must stop. (Kıyağan, 13.08.2022) Lately, he highlighted the negative consequences of the war and restressed the call to end the war. On the other hand, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, expressed that supporting Ukraine is a moral responsibility for NATO to ensure peace of the existence of NATO will be increased over time in Eastern Ukraine. (Çam, 13.08.2022)
Can International Organizations Propose a Solution?
Ian Hurd (2014) identifies international organizations as “All international organizations exist in the conceptual and legal space between state sovereignty and legal obligation. The commitments made by sovereign states create them, and their purpose is to bind those states to their commitments.” (p.10) As it can be understood, having some red lines and making states stay in that line are two main features of international organizations.
In theory, these organizations have a clear image that they can provide peace and security. Yet, in the real world, we can not see that happening. A clash of interests, secret agendas, complex ways to solve a problem or putting different levels of importance on a particular situation may be the reason behind that fact.
To illustrate, while the crisis of the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey due to a violation of Turkey’s national airspace in 2015 is experiencing, the Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, only made a declaration stating that “We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally.” (BBC, 13.08.2022) Just a weak verbal warning is not sufficient for that case, people expected more from NATO when it is considered as a well-working and successful international organization.
It is also known that NATO is experiencing version 3.0. now, which demonstrates that it tries to stay alive and functional. Being powerless regarding having a certain stand in favour of allies is also a reason for frustration. These unsatisfactory sanctions of NATO since 2015 may lead Russia to make war against Ukraine more efficiently today. If NATO had protected Turkey and others more strongly when necessary, Russia could be more hesitant about causing real problems in the world.
In conclusion, the roles of the UN and NATO regarding the Russian – Ukrainian war have been questionable. The circumstance of international organizations regarding coming up with a solution has been crucial. These two international organizations are the two most influential organizations in the world. That’s why their actions are more important than others when there is a crisis in the world. They both are making statements to stop Russia’s attacks, but it is not deterrent enough.
As a result, the Russian – Ukrainian war is nowadays one of the hottest topics worldwide. It can be asked that if international organizations can not prevent wars, why are they exist? It should not be missed that Russia’s aggression would have been more if there were no cautionary actors other than states. They had interfered with some problems in the past, which is still a significant threat to Russia today.
* Researcher