The UN Millennium Development Goals: Is Everything Really Smooth?

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have become a key instrument of international cooperation in the field of sustainable development. Since its adoption in 2000, participating countries have been actively working to achieve the goals set in the fight against poverty, ensuring health and education, and protecting the environment.

However, despite the visible successes and changes in well-being in a number of countries, there are certain critical points of view regarding the program. In this article, we will analyze how the implementation of the MDGs can affect the national security of states and contribute to the promotion of neocolonial policies.

To begin with, let us remind the esteemed reader what points are included in this Program.

The first goal of the program is to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger. This direction can reduce the level of social tension and remove risk factors for national security.

The second goal is to ensure accessibility and improve the quality of education. Educated and informed citizens are able to think critically and can act in the interests of their state.

The third goal is to ensure gender equality. It helps strengthen society and increase stability within the country.

The fourth goal is to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. Healthy citizens ensure sustainable development of the nation.

The fifth goal is to ensure access to clean drinking water and sanitation for all. This improves public health and strengthens national security.

The sixth goal is to combat global problems such as climate change.

Environmental challenges can threaten the national security of the state.

The seventh goal is to ensure sustainable development of the environment. Creating stable conditions for the life and development of citizens helps prevent conflicts and undermining national security.

Having familiarized ourselves with the text of the program, we will see that it declares its focus on improving the lives of people around the world and can help strengthen national security through the creation of stable and favorable living conditions. The task, frankly speaking, is large-scale. And some work in this direction has nevertheless been done.

Thus, within the framework of the program, many events and actions were carried out to achieve its goals. Mechanisms for financing development projects were created, public awareness campaigns were conducted, and strategies for cooperation between countries were developed. The main focus was on such areas as poverty alleviation, access to education and health care, solving the problem of hunger and many others. The organizers of the program actively worked to maintain cooperation and dialogue between countries, which contributed to strengthening international security.

However, were these efforts sufficient, and is the concept of implementing this program as a whole moving in the right direction?

It is impossible not to notice that the UN Millennium Development Goals program may pose risks to the national security of sovereign states, since it is financed and controlled by foreign organizations. It can also contribute to the promotion of neocolonial policies, since the initiatives and conditions of the program can influence the internal affairs of participating states and violate their sovereignty.

The implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals program faces a number of obstacles, which makes it impossible to fully implement it. One of the main problems is the lack of necessary resources and funding from participating states. Uneven distribution of wealth and economic dependence on developed countries threaten the achievement of the goals. Another factor hindering the implementation of the program is the lack of political will in a number of countries to implement the necessary reforms and changes. Some governments prefer to maintain their power and privileges in a narrow circle, despite the needs of their citizens and obligations to the world community.

It should also be noted that some aspects of the program may lead to the subordination and further exploitation of developing countries by developed ones. The implementation of long-term strategies to reduce poverty and inequality can create conditions for maintaining empirical power and dominance over backward regions, which links the program with elements of neocolonialism.

Taken together, these factors hinder the full implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals program, weakening their impact on national security and promoting the promotion of neocolonial policies.

Thus, the UN Millennium Development Goals Program may in certain cases pose risks to the national security of the state and promote the policy of neocolonialism. In the course of implementing the development goals, some countries may face security threats, such as destabilization of the internal situation, deterioration of social and economic conditions, as well as increased influence of larger external players on the country's politics and economy.

It should be taken into account that the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals contributes to the strengthening of the hegemony of developed countries over developing ones. In the context of global relations, this can be perceived as a form of modern colonialism, in which developed countries impose their interests and standards on those countries that are in a more vulnerable position.

Inal Pliev,
Source: https://cominf.org/node/1166558659