http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/authors/3007/malcolm-harper Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:02:40 -0400 Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:02:40 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1170/the-united-nations-at-50--dead-or-alive By Malcolm Harper - My own experience in different theatres is that the Blue Helmets often quietly contribute rather more than an all too often ignorant press corps understands. I recall once arguing with Douglas Hurd, then a Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had been given so weak and inadequate a mandate by the Security Council that it might be best for it to be withdrawn. Clearly he did not fully share that attitude; so I went to see the Lebanese Ambassador in London in order to seek his views. “Never,” he said to me, &ldquo... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1170/the-united-nations-at-50--dead-or-alive