Resources and Applied Methods in International Relations by Guillaume Devin

Author:Guillaume Devin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Unweaving the UN Web Through Comparison

United Nations websites also represent a discourse produced by the organization about itself. Browsing in real time on the UN portal is conducive to comparing the pages proposed over time. Thus it updates differing interpretations of UN identity. The website has gone from being a tool for research to a subject of research, inviting researchers to question how the UN presents itself and the changes in this digital orchestration.

In exploring the virtual United Nations, visitors are led to perform synchronic comparisons among the entries proposed: by body, theme or actor. This exercise qualifies the visual identity presumed by the organization chart for the main bodies.

Among these, the UNSC, UNGA and Ecosoc have similar sites in terms of the presentation and headings proposed (“about,” “president,” “documents,” “meetings”).44 The page devoted to the Secretary-General resembles the latter, while the page for the Secretariat enumerates links for its various offices and departments, reflecting its administrative nature as a non-deliberative body.45 On the other hand, the Trusteeship Council’s internet presence is more discreet, probably due to the suspension of its activities in 1994.46

As for The International Court of Justice website , it is outside the un.​org/​domain, which reflects a geographical as well as an institutional distance.47 This configuration underlines the special status of legal themes and bodies at the UN, knowledge of which can however prove to be fruitful. For instance, it is through the entry “law” that internet users can explore the Repertoire of the Practice of UN bodies.48

These varied presentations in the UN system can also be analyzed through a diachronic comparison of websites that is possible using the Internet Archive.49 In the early years of its existence, the website was organized in a simple and two-sided logic and appearance, combining a presentation of the UN core structure and an overview of its main topics of action (see Fig. 6.1). Several subjects (peace and security, sustainable development, human rights, humanitarian aid, international rights) appear on a regular, almost systematic basis, even though their wording has changed slightly. Alongside this core, internet users may notice a reinforcement of thematic approaches, as evidenced by the increasing number of entries by subject since the early 2010s, the growing importance of environmental issues (mainly through the “sustainable development” label) and the place given to UN prominent topics (see Fig. 6.2). Thus, on the portal’s home page in late 2015, in addition to the usual themes displayed in the “Our actions” menu, there were headings devoted to the organization’s “crucial themes” and “areas of action.” The creation by the Department of Information of numerous sustainable or more cyclical websites has reinforced this trend (mobilization regarding the Ebola epidemic in 2014, celebrations and anniversaries [observances]).50

Fig. 6.1Home page of the www.​un.​org/​website on January 4, 1997Source: https://​web.​archive.​org/​web/​19970104075414/​http://​www.​un.​org

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