Editing United Nations (section)

== Assessments and reviews ==
{{Main|Reform of the United Nations|Reform of the United Nations Security Council}}
[[File:Friedensnobelpreis 2001 Vereinte Nationen.jpg|thumb|left|The [[2001 Nobel Peace Prize]] to the UN—diploma in the lobby of the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|UN Headquarters]] in [[New York City]]]]

Several studies have examined the Security Council's responsiveness to armed conflict. Findings suggests that the Council is more likely to meet and deliberate on conflicts that are more intense and have led to more humanitarian suffering, but that its responsiveness is also shaped by the political interests of member states and in particular of the permanent members.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Lundgren |first1= Magnus|last2= Klamberg |first2= Mark|date= 2022 |title=Selective Attention: The United Security Council and Armed Conflict |journal= British Journal of Political Science |doi= 10.1017/S0007123422000461 |doi-access= free |issn=0007-1234 }}</ref>

UN peacekeeping missions are assessed to be generally successful. A book looking at 47 peace operations by [[Virginia Page Fortna]] of [[Columbia University]] found that UN-led conflict resolution usually resulted in long-term peace.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fortna |first1=Virginia Page |url=https://bookshop.org/books/does-peacekeeping-work-shaping-belligerents-choices-after-civil-war/9780691136714 |title=Does Peacekeeping Work?: Shaping Belligerents' Choices After Civil War |date=2008 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-13671-4 |language=en |access-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203701/https://bookshop.org/books/does-peacekeeping-work-shaping-belligerents-choices-after-civil-war/9780691136714 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Political scientists Hanne Fjelde, Lisa Hultman and [[Desiree Nilsson]] of [[Uppsala University]] studied twenty years of data on peacekeeping missions, concluding that they were more effective at reducing civilian casualties than counterterrorism operations by nation states.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Lise Morjé |url=https://bookshop.org/books/power-in-peacekeeping/9781108457187 |title=Power in Peacekeeping |date=2019 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-45718-7 |language=en |access-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202650/https://bookshop.org/books/power-in-peacekeeping/9781108457187 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Georgetown University]] professor Lise Howard postulates that UN peacekeeping operations are more effective due to their emphasis on "verbal persuasion, financial inducements and coercion short of offensive military force, including surveillance and arrest", which are likelier to change the behavior of warring parties.<ref name=":0" />

British historian [[Paul Kennedy]] states that while the organization has suffered some major setbacks, "when all its aspects are considered, the UN has brought great benefits to our generation and will bring benefits to our children's and grandchildren's generations as well."{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=290}}

In 2012, then French President [[François Hollande]] stated that "France trusts the United Nations. She knows that no state, no matter how powerful, can solve urgent problems, fight for development and bring an end to all crises. France wants the UN to be the centre of global governance".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.franceonu.org/france-at-the-united-nations/the-united-nations/france-s-role-at-the-un/article/france-s-role-at-the-un#7 |title=France's role at the UN |publisher=Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations |access-date=25 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234056/http://www.franceonu.org/france-at-the-united-nations/the-united-nations/france-s-role-at-the-un/article/france-s-role-at-the-un#7 |archive-date=2 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In his 1953 address to the United States Committee for United Nations Day, American President Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed his view that, for all its flaws, "the United Nations represents man's best organized hope to substitute the conference table for the battlefield".<ref>{{cite web |title=Remarks to the Members of the United States Committee for United Nations Day. |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-members-the-united-states-committee-for-united-nations-day |access-date=23 June 2021 |website=The American Presidency Project |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308185755/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-members-the-united-states-committee-for-united-nations-day |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Jacques Fomerand]], a professor in political sciences, writes that the "accomplishments of the United Nations in the last 60 years are impressive in their own terms. Progress in human development during the 20th century has been dramatic, and the UN and its agencies have certainly helped the world become a more hospitable and livable place for millions".{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|pp=cviii}}

Reviewing the first 50 years of the UN's history, the author [[Stanley Meisler]] writes that "the United Nations never fulfilled the hopes of its founders, but it accomplished a great deal nevertheless", citing its role in decolonization and its many successful peacekeeping efforts.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=339}}