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Available for over a year

Eighty years after its founding, the United Nations stands at a crossroads. Created in the aftermath of the Second World War to keep the peace and promote global cooperation, it has been celebrated for moments of decisive diplomacy and condemned for political paralysis. Its story is one of ambition and compromise, ideals and realpolitik, from Cold War brinkmanship and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the surge of newly independent nations demanding a voice on the world stage. Among its most intriguing chapters is the quiet, steady leadership of U Thant, the Burmese diplomat who guided the organisation through turbulent times and championed the perspectives of the Global South. His era highlights the UN’s enduring tensions - balancing sovereignty and unity, mediating between superpowers and responding to global crises that transcend borders. Today, with climate change, pandemics, technological disruption and shifting geopolitical alliances redefining the global landscape, the question is whether the UN can adapt quickly enough to remain effective. This programme examines the lessons of its past and asks what kind of peacekeeping role it can realistically play in the 21st century. A 2 Degrees West production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4