United Nations At 50

The United Nations celebrates its golden anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, world leaders will gather in New York on Oct. 22-24 for a special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly. The event is designed to draw attention to a half-century of achievements in economic and social development, decolonization, human rights, disarmament and peacekeeping. But the U.N.'s past accomplishments may be overshadowed by concerns about its current operations. The failure of U.N. peacekeeping forces to end the civil war in the former Yugoslavia is raising questions about the U.N.'s future role in world affairs. Some American lawmakers are questioning the value of U.S. participation in multilateral organizations. And critics around the world accuse the U.N. of squandering its 185 members' contributions.