Day 17 8/18: "Hey mom? I'm at the UN!"

Up early, shaved, well-dressed, and pen/paper in hand. Why is this? Because today we are going to the UN! We arrived at the Vienna International Center and passed security in order to gain access to the UN building, where we met up with our tour guide (who, as it happens, is getting his PhD in History and writing his dissertation on the Habsburgs). He told us a bit about the history of the United Nations. It was formed in October of 1945 after the Second World War. It was the second attempt at a multi-national union after the League of Nations failed in the post-WWI period. Today it consists of 192 countries and has 4 locations across the globe, each with its own specific purpose. New York deals with politics, Nairobi focuses on the environment, Geneva is the center for human rights, and Vienna is concerned with security and nuclear energy. Vienne became the home of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watch-dog of the UN, in 1957. After this brief introduction to the functions and offices going on all around us, we were guided into the room where the general assembly sits when they are in session. We actually got to sit where the head delegates get to sit! In this room our guide explained that the two official languages of the UN are English and French. We were all quizzical as to why French would be one of the official languages when it does not have as much influence on the global stage as a language like Mandarin Chinese. Evidently when the UN was founded in 1945, French was one of the most prominent languages in the world. It only made sense for the organization to make it a language (being formed by the Allies, France included). After our tour around the places that we were authorized to see, we were led into the room where we were to hear a lecture by a representative of the IAEA. The speaker gave us more information on the history and function of the IAEA. When it was formed in 1957, it predated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by 11 years. It was inspired by Eisenhower’s 1953 speech “Atoms for Peace.”
Our preparatory assignment for the UN was to write down questions for the speakers, so I will continue to blog by showing the questions and answers.
1) How does the NPT work?
The NPT divides countries into 2 catagories: The first category consists of the countries that can have nuclear weapons (US, Russia, UK, France, China). These are the countries who have exploded nukes before 1967, and they have no checks within the IAEA. The second category is the countries that cannot develop nuclear technology accept under IAEA guidelines. There is a third category that pretty much only serves as “the rest of them.” These are India, Israel, and Pakistan. These countries have been the hotbed of contention for many years.
2) How does the IAEA provide assistance to the signatory countries?
The IAEA has three goals: The first is safeguards and verification which includes making sure that any nuclear technology is used for peaceful measures. The second is safety and security, which includes oversight over the 430 plants in 30 countries and the 1000s of uses that the technology has. It also includes security for large events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl. The third goal is to provide the proper science and technology to countries that request it. There are some specific guide-lines that the country needs to follow if they want nuclear power, they have to have enough money to finance and run the operation indefinitely, they have to have the man-power and expertise in order to handle the materials, they have to have a strong enough power grid to handle a nuclear facility, and they have to have proper governmental agencies in place to provide the right oversight for any nuclear project. If a country passes these inspections, the IAEA will assist in providing technology that can help clean water and make food safer.
3) Given that the prospect of mutually assured destruction (MAD) was one of the main reasons that the Cold War did not become a hot war, why is the proliferation of nukes something to be feared?
According to the speaker, there is no such thing as MAD anymore. I did not quite understand his reasons as to why this is true, but he said that nukes should not be used as diplomatic deterrents. I do not think that this answer is really responsive to the question that I had because it is largely opinion-based and does not rely on evidence or analysis. I would have liked a better answer because nuclear proliferation is something that is always thought of as being bad and is rarely questioned. We did get an email address where we could direct further questions, so I think that I will have to email to find out more about this topic (Update: still no email response to my question. I can’t really blame them; they have much more important things to worry about than the question of one student. Would have been nice to have a good answer though).
After a brief break, we sat back down to hear another lecture. The speaker that was presenting was from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Her specific job dealt mostly with drugs, so the discussion was mainly focused on that topic.
1) How much funding does the UNODC receive and where does it come from?
The UNODC has a relatively low operating budget of only a few hundred million. This is very small since the agency has to deal with both drugs and crime in all countries! The agency receives funding from the UN general fund every year, but it also receives grants and pledges from the signatory countries.
2)How does the agency ‘fight’ against cartels, trafficking, splinters, and despots who have armed forces, given that the agency has no military?
The Agency does not actively fight against drugs because that jurisdiction falls mostly to the independent country. Instead, the UNODC offers counseling and advice to the states so that they may be better equipped with the knowledge they need to not only stop the cartels, but to prevent the populace from falling prey to addiction. For example, the agency hosts several programs around the globe in school to teach young children about the dangers of addiction and what can happen should they start to use. Additionally, the UNODC has various clinics and plans that help rehabilitate those who are addicted or who have recently kicked a habit. Unlike the IAEA, however, there are not strict codified laws as to how a country should or should not deal with drugs or crime.
3) What is the UNODC’s stance on countries such as Holland that have legalized controlled substances?
It is not the agency’s job to pass judgment or to scorn, so officially it has no opinion on the subject. All they can do is provide assistance when asked and where needed. Should they adopt a formal opinion, it would hurt global cooperation and limit their ability to be viewed as an objective source of information and aid.
After this lecture was over, we had one more presentation by a group of interns who were going to try and inform/persuade us about the UN internship program. The UN accepts interns from almost every field of study for terms of 2-6 months. The regular internships are unpaid, but relatively easy to get. An applicant must have graduated from college and be enrolled in graduate school during the time of appointment. This sounds like the perfect summer job for me once I (hopefully) enter graduate school. My new plan is to try for an internship in Vienna one of the summers that I am in grad school so I can not only add it to my resume, but do something important for the world and myself.
One visit to the UN café and gift shop later, our visit to the UN was over. It was a really informative experience, although I definitely had more questions that I would have liked answered. The reasons to return to Vienna are just piling up now!
Today’s blog post was brought to you by the German word ‘offen,’ meaning ‘frank, open, candid.’