Sabah Aslam

The United Nations’ (UN) institutional flaws have allowed great powers, notably the United States (US), to advance their interests at the expense of the organization’s core purposes. It has failed to avoid wars; peace and security are now a thing of the past. While only the tactics and patterns of battle have changed, the flames of strife have never been extinguished.

The UN is clearly powerless, as it has failed to deter great power aggression. Any resolution opposing their conduct will be vetoed without delay. As a result, the UN serves little purpose during great power wars, and weak nations are subjugated without significant assistance or collective security.

The United Nations is the world’s primary institution for deliberating on issues of peace and security, although its activity extends well beyond peacekeeping and conflict aversion. Several UN agencies are committed to a spectrum of issues, including health and humanitarian concerns, as well as economic and cultural development, and environmental concerns. For 77 years, the US has served as the organization’s principal chaperon and significant sponsor as a founding member.

The US is the greatest donor to the UN, in 2021 alone, it contributed more than $11 billion, accounting for more than 20 percent ofthe total financing for the body’s collective budget. Despite former US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce financing, his administration has valued sovereignty above multilateralism. His administration claimed that the US suffered disproportionately high expenses and that UN initiatives contradicted the government’s strategic positions. However, US President Joe Biden has reaffirmed the centrality of the United Nations in US foreign policy and increased financing for the institution. Despite the promises and commitments, the United States owes the United Nations approximately $1 billion in peacekeeping alone, according to Executive Director of the Better World Campaign, Jordie Hannum’s correspondence with the media

Although the United States has been brutal to its competitors, its ascendancy to global hegemony has given the UN new verve. The United States has blanketed the world in security to serve as a global law enforcer; its economic dominance has allowed it to influence the global economy and attract alliances; its technological advantage has added another dimension to its power; and its ideological principles multilateralism, neoliberal economic system, and democratic political norms have provided it with the tools to craft the rules of the game. In its essence, the UN has been shielded by a hegemonic power; its values have been sustained solely by virtue of US exceptionalism.

US suspects that the hegemonic unipolarity that the US enjoyed during the Cold War is threatened by the rising multipolarity. Russia’s resurgence and China’s rise are viewed as threats by the US to its UN-led structure of the purported liberal democratic international order. The US has attempted to sway the geopolitics and foreign policy of South Asia on several occasions by using the UN system. The US has initiated a pattern of imposing sanctions and taking unjustified action through multilateral forums and the international community to serve its objectives in confronting China.

The United Nations can hence be viewed as both an ‘institutional bargain’,and the embodiment of the US-led vision of world order. The US’s ambiguous attitude toward the UN reflects the precarious nature of the institutional bargain. However, the tie is stronger than it appears since the Organization embodies ideals and objectives that US presidents have advocated for over the last 100 years. It has proven to be a suitable position for the US to exercise and enhance its already exceptional pool of ‘soft power’. 

Undermining the UN might make it slightly easier for the US to act alone when warranted, but the multilateral, institutional, and rule-of-law tendency in US foreign policy thought would not be easily overcome. This drive might manifest itself in organizations other than the UN, but the evidence does not point to the creation of a viable alternative anytime soon.

Recent happeningsin Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iran, and elsewhere have brought to light ironies, that the US was the architect of the very UN-based order that current US policy may seem to abolish; and that the US has a greater incentive to legitimize its power through multilateral mechanisms as it becomes more powerful in order to avoid effective opposition. The UN will continue to serve as an effective tool for the US to turn its interests and values into a global consensus and put its power behind more expansive collective goals for the foreseeable future.

Ms. Hadiya Siddiqui

Since 2007, the Pakistan Navy has had the honour of conceptualising and hosting the AMAN series of exercises, which promotes peace at sea. The exercise includes a multinational exercise with friendly regional and extra regional naval forces, which has been essential in raising the morale of the Pakistan Navy. In order to ensure effective maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, it is necessary to establish relationships, improve compatibility, and increase mutual understanding among navies (IOR).

While interacting with all the participating navies through joint bilateral and multilateral exercises, Pakistan Navy has proudly been able to claim the growing stature of the exercise and the largest participation of representatives of about more than forty friendly nations.

Pakistan Navy is conducting the AMAN series of exercise biennially since 2007 and the 8thof its edition has been scheduled in February 2023.The aim of the exercise is to establish Responses, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures against conventional and unconventional threats faced by today’s world.Therefore, these exercises play an important role for formation of a joint strategy among the participating navies to develop a united approach for the regional maritime security. Moreover the exercise includes enhancement of professional expertise in capability of joint operations and regional peace and security. Thus, this authenticates the exercise’s declared resolve of ‘Together for Peace.’

The resolve will not only help to eradicate terrorism and pledging peace and harmony in the region, but in fact the regional navies can ensure a smooth route to prosperity via trade, by strengthening multi-layered security cooperation and enhancing inter-operability in Naval Ops and cross culture interaction.

Pakistan Navy believes in inclusive policy and if the world stands together, there will be great benefits for all. The IORis experiencing swift geostrategic changes which have arose a number of challenges for Pakistan but have also provided many opportunities that promise a security improvement not only within Pakistan but also in the region at large. 

The strategic security environment of the world is being transformed by dynamism observed in global maritime trade and therefore, there requires an increase in security arrangements in and around theIOR. Regional nations that heretofore have provided periodic coastal protection may find they must expand patrols from the Strait of Hormuz to Egypt’s Suez Canal, transiting between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and down the east coast of Africa to secure the waterways.  The Arabian Sea and Eastern waters would always be of immense importance and cannot be ignored. Hence, AMAN exercise also targets this particular aspect to warrant global Maritime security.

Furthermore, to combat the design to maintain Maritime Superiority by certain countries, especially in IOR, Pakistan encourages the nations to join hands and equip themselves to face traditional as well as non-traditional threats in the Sea. Maritime security challenges in the IOR are both multidimensional and multifaceted. Threats like maritime terrorism, drug trafficking, and piracy have acquired international dimensions. StymieingMaritime aspirations of conventional and unconventional threats, the AMAN exercise would help work against human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, and terrorism in the region. 

Cooperation between international fleets is essential for fending off growing threats, underscoring the necessity for a strong naval presence. Megaprojects present a wide range of regional and transregional economic opportunities, particularly in the marine sector, and Pakistan, a key player in the Arabian Sea’s maritime security, is completely dedicated to preserving freedom of navigation and the rule of law.

In the harbour phase of Exercise AMAN-23, there will be an international maritime conference, a maritime terrorism demonstration, roundtable discussions on professional topics, and various cross-cultural activities. Duringthe sea phase, advanced naval drills including antipiracy tactics, counter terrorism operations, maritime security operations and an International Fleet Review will be conducted.

With the launch of the AMAN series of exercises, the Pakistan Navy is taking the lead and laying more emphasis on international cooperation in an effort to make the world a safer place. Pakistan’s naval forces actively participate with other fleets in the IOR as a leading nation and significant contributor in the fight against terrorism, narcotics trafficking, people smuggling, gun running, and high seas piracy.

Hence, the strong realization that no one nation can single handedly cope with the quantum of this prevailing threat, making cooperative maritime strategy a matter of compulsion rather than choice and that the importance of this collaboration will enhance with the complete operation of China Pakistan Economic Corridor and Gwadar Port – which are meant to bring prosperity not only to Pakistan but the region and beyond.