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As Kofi Annan prepares to take over as secretary-general of the United Nations, we should stop to think about what the U.N. has done right — and wrong — over its 40-year history.

When the Berlin Wall fell and American President George Bush heralded a "New World Order," the future of the United Nations seemed bright. A world in which the strong would protect the weak, the rule of law would prevail in international affairs and the U.N. Charter would be implemented seemed within reach.

For a short while, the world did make astonishing progress in dealing with such intractable regional conflicts as Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Angola, Namibia and South Africa. But our optimism proved to be short-lived, as events in places like Somalia and Bosnia took the luster off the New World Order.

The real problem with the United Nations today is the absence of a coherent policy on peacekeeping. Vague mandates and insufficient resources have exposed the organization to criticism that has overshadowed the United Nation's commendable work in other areas.

What we need is a fundamental understanding of the nature of today's conflicts. The large clashes between superpowers have been replaced by small but numerous unrelated disturbances all over the world: Afghanistan, Burundi, Haiti, Liberia, Somalia and Bosnia are just a few.

In 1995 alone, the world witnessed a record 18 peacekeeping missions involving over 78,000 troops in both external and internal conflicts. And a majority of these situations were all the more difficult because of the lack of commitment from the major powers.

Pakistan, through its involvement in Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia, has learned a great deal about how to handle peacekeeping operations. If I could put my finger on the most essential part of a successful mission, it would be the presence of a standby force at the disposal of the local commander, which could react to developing problems with decisiveness.

But conflict between armed forces isn't the only problem that the countries of the world must overcome. An organization like the United Nations is essential to control such budding crises as nuclear proliferation, narcotics trafficking, killer diseases and terrorism. All these problems don't recognize the sanctity of international borders — they must be dealt with in cooperation.

We must also learn to control the spread of ethnic violence, as a disturbance in one country automatically affects the whole region in the form of refugees. The recent situation in Zaire is but one example of this trend. Currently, there are 27 million refugees in the world — if the United Nations were not there to look after the victims of genocide and racial warfare, who would?

The challenges we face are not insurmountable. We can overcome any obstacle if we work together through a strengthened and reformed United Nations. Canadian Foreign Minister Lester B. Pearson put it best when he said: "Are we to go from crisis to crisis improvising in haste? Or can we now pool our experience and our resources, so that the next time we — the governments and peoples the United Nations represents — will be ready and prepared to act."

I strongly believe in the dream of a cooperative brotherhood of nations, and I draw inspiration from the guiding principles of Pakistan's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said, "Pakistan will never be found lacking in extending its material support to the oppressed and suppressed people of the world and in upholding the principles of the U.N. Charter."

Pakistan has the unique distinction of contributing forces to all the peacemaking operations from Congo in 1960 to the ongoing involvement in Bosnia. The road has not always been easy, as we suffered a heavy price when our troops were ambushed and killed in Somalia.

Pakistanis were not the only ones to shed blood in Somalia, however — Americans lost their lives, as well. And although our losses may be discouraging, we must not these sacrifices in the name of world peace be in vain.

The American people spent trillions of dollars to fight communism, a battle they won. Now, we must join together to fight against the impending chaos that the end of the Cold War has brought. And organizations like the United Nations are our only hope.

COPYRIGHT 1996, CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.