Evaluation of Sources
(Human Rights Watch, 1995)
Source 1 Humans right watch. This source is secondary as it was published in 1995 only 2 years after the incident. However it is very factual and has a lot of detailed information. It also gives a brief background on the events that lead to the Srebrenica massacre. And the information also helps prove my thesis. Secondary source.
(BBC News, 1999)
Source 2 BBC news, the BBC news report must be very accurate as it is a reliable news source. This source also contains a quote from a first person who was in the event (quotes are primary sources). Also the date of publication is also relatively close to 1993. It also proves my thesis as it blames the UN for the failure.
(IRSN, 2007)
Source 3 International relations and security network. This source is secondary and published a while after the incident. However is still reliable as it is coming from a very factual and trusted group. It is very factual and focuses on the abandonment of the peacekeepers.
OVERALL: These sources all corroborate my thesis question proving my statement the UN is unsuccessful. They are all intended for news sources which make them very reliable.
Source 1 Humans right watch. This source is secondary as it was published in 1995 only 2 years after the incident. However it is very factual and has a lot of detailed information. It also gives a brief background on the events that lead to the Srebrenica massacre. And the information also helps prove my thesis. Secondary source.
(BBC News, 1999)
Source 2 BBC news, the BBC news report must be very accurate as it is a reliable news source. This source also contains a quote from a first person who was in the event (quotes are primary sources). Also the date of publication is also relatively close to 1993. It also proves my thesis as it blames the UN for the failure.
(IRSN, 2007)
Source 3 International relations and security network. This source is secondary and published a while after the incident. However is still reliable as it is coming from a very factual and trusted group. It is very factual and focuses on the abandonment of the peacekeepers.
OVERALL: These sources all corroborate my thesis question proving my statement the UN is unsuccessful. They are all intended for news sources which make them very reliable.
(Boot, 2000)
This website is a review on a book written by general Kofi Annan, (also the man from source sheet 1, source 2). He was helping the UN but quit after becoming frustrated with the UN lack of progress. It is a secondary source which evaluates a primary source (Annan’s book) however has references to primary information and quotes. This makes it reliable as it has references to primary and secondary sources which corroborate. However it does loose some reliability as it’s in an article form which could show some bias by the writer only presenting the statistics against the UN. The perspective of the article is critical of the UN. The perspective is of the people who the UN has failed. It has a large context of information which I could apply to this task. It is very descriptive, accurate and easy to understand. The man who wrote this Max Boot for Foreign affairs is a professional and respected journalist. Published by the council on foreign relations, which is a very reliable sight. It also has very good background information about how the UN formed hopes / achievements etc. The purpose of this is to give insight of Mr Annan’s book which really was acknowledging the UN massive failures. It also supports my thesis because it is critical of the UN and had Mr Annan’s viewpoint on it (his quotes a good source to use as primary). The authors motive is to persuade readers of why and how the UN fails it’s missions. It was also created to inform readers of foreign affairs.
This website is a review on a book written by general Kofi Annan, (also the man from source sheet 1, source 2). He was helping the UN but quit after becoming frustrated with the UN lack of progress. It is a secondary source which evaluates a primary source (Annan’s book) however has references to primary information and quotes. This makes it reliable as it has references to primary and secondary sources which corroborate. However it does loose some reliability as it’s in an article form which could show some bias by the writer only presenting the statistics against the UN. The perspective of the article is critical of the UN. The perspective is of the people who the UN has failed. It has a large context of information which I could apply to this task. It is very descriptive, accurate and easy to understand. The man who wrote this Max Boot for Foreign affairs is a professional and respected journalist. Published by the council on foreign relations, which is a very reliable sight. It also has very good background information about how the UN formed hopes / achievements etc. The purpose of this is to give insight of Mr Annan’s book which really was acknowledging the UN massive failures. It also supports my thesis because it is critical of the UN and had Mr Annan’s viewpoint on it (his quotes a good source to use as primary). The authors motive is to persuade readers of why and how the UN fails it’s missions. It was also created to inform readers of foreign affairs.
(Debatewise.org, 8/04/14)
This website has two answers for one response, one supporting the UN and one against the UN. The perspective of the authors was either supporting the UN saying it’s doing as much as they can to help whereas the other perspective is against the UN saying they cause more problems than they can solve. There is no author as it is a blog, which makes it less reliable however less bias than the other websites as it allows you to compare the answers and make your own conclusions from the information. It was intended for audience who didn’t know much about the issue as it gave both sides of the story and was easy to understand. The motive was to inform the readers about both sides to the story. The site implied that the UN have failed there ultimate objective to prevent suffering as they have failed countless problems. This source is secondary as it recalled information; it is less reliable than a primary source. It corroborates with statistics showing failures, slow decision making and mockery. It is reliable as all information is reviewed before published. It was also corroborated with all the other websites proving the information given was reliable. I also could prove my thesis further with this website allowed me to use the information in favour of the UN and state why these points are incorrect. Overall it was a helpful site in the earlier part of my research journey, guiding me to develop my thesis (either proving or defying the UN’s success).
(Fitzgerald, 2013)
This website allowed me to pick two other failures and compare them. It was also one of the first sights I went to and was very helpful in directing me to what issues I want to cover. It was written by A. FitzGerald who is a reliable journalist. List verse also looks like a very professional site. This was secondary source however was factual on information such as dates and what the UN did/ didn’t do therefore making it still a fair enough reliable source. It also allowed me to compare the failures and choose which ones I thought were interesting for the class. Mr FitzGerald wrote this article to inform the audience as he used facts and is written in third person not using I or me to inform the reader. This website was produced for an audience interested in society and world issues. The perspective of the author is the UN’s dramatic failures and the perspective of the people who the UN have failed. It corroborates with my primary sources implying the devastation in these events are greater than the conflict resolution and the worst failures of the UN is when they cannot keep their promises.
(www.unitedhumanrights.org, 13/4/14)
This website is secondary source however the website was created by the united human rights council which looks to be a reliable source as they have information and cover topics about human rights and violations. The information gives me a clear understanding of what happened in the Rwanda genocide and would be a good starting point to explain how and why this genocide occurred. There is no bias’s in this source as it is pure facts, dates and information. It covered the perspective of the Rwandan people who needed the UN more than ever. The author is reliable and the audience this was produced for are researchers/historians as it has dates and a lot of factual information (percentages etc.). The writer’s intentions were to inform the audience in a very factual way. The website implies the UN was aware the Tutsi people were being targeted yet still did nothing to prevent these killings. This websites information corroborates with the other websites.
(haaretz.com, 2014)
This source is reliable as it is a digital Israeli newspaper which uses a combination of primary and secondary sources which includes quotes (indirect and direct), statistics and links to other websites. The primary sources were reliable as they were quotes of the UN mediator at the time of the Syrian crisis. The use of primary and secondary sources in this website makes it reliable as they corroborate. The perspective this article covers are the Syrian refugees, not the rebel forces or the government. The article is by Reuters an international website and shows no bias as it only represents the facts without being interpreted. This was produced for the public but an educated public on the background of the Syrian disaster. The authors’ motive is to inform the readers about the comments the UN made about their failure of the situation. This website implied that the UN are sorry for their failure and nothing much has been done to try to help. It is also suggested that the UN preach human rights yet do not act as if the civilian’s deaths are just a number.
(cbbc, 2013)
This website is reliable as it is from BBC a well-known and trusted news website it is also recently updated information and has very useful external links. It has easy to read questions and clearly stated answers, which could be intended for a younger audience who don’t know much about the topic. The information is easy to understand which informs the reader without complicating information. It also could be intended to help the younger readers gain greater knowledge on who, how and why this issue occurred. The perspective of this article was the UN which makes it a bit less reliable than the others as the UN could have left out vital information on why there peace keeping and preventing missions have not worked. There is a use of primary sources and secondary sources such as quotes from Frank Gardner (BBC security correspondent) and secondary sources such as statistics and indirect referencing. This website corroborates with the other sources as it has all the same facts and statistics.
(Gladstone, 2013)
The perspective of this article is of the people who the UN has continued to fail over the 2 years of being in Syria. The authors who created the article R. Gladstone and N. Cumming-Bruce published this article in the new York times, a well-known source making it reliable. R. Gladstone also has produced a number of other articles for the New York times about conflicts. As being for a newspaper the intended audience is for everyday people therefore the information given must be accurate. The source shows slight bias against the UN by not mentioning any of the UN’s success however using a variety of primary quotes and secondary evidence has proven the failures of the UN in Syria. This website implies that the UN role in Syria is a collective failure and during the 2 years there has been little to no progress. Also it implies the UN have acknowledged the failure of the Rwanda genocide and other mass killings as they have a responsibility to protect yet nothing has been done. They are all talk and no action. This website corroborates with the other sources/websites as they all prove the failure of the UN in Syria.
(Block, 1995)
The perspective of this website is of the people who the UN abandoned in these ‘safe zones.’ They have done this by showing quotes (primary) of those who believed they were abandoned and of the lieutenant who authorised the orders. This website is reliable as it comes from the website ‘the independent’ which covers a lot of conflicts and world issues. It also reliable as it has direct references of primary sources as quotes and secondary information. This affects the reliability as it could have included more primary sources other than quotes as quotes can be bias as they are opinions of a person. The author R. Block is a journalist who has published his own article to inform and partially persuade readers that the UN has outrageously abandoned the Bosnian in a critical time. The intended audience the source was produced for are people with a background knowledge as only states what happened six weeks prior to the massacre. This source implies the UN had volunteered to help when they couldn’t possibly handle this. Also it implies that they coldly fled the safe zones containing thousands of innocent people who later on were killed. This source corroborates with my other websites all stating the UN had abandoned the Bosnian people.
(www.tigweb.org, 2004)
This information is reliable as it contains more primary sources than any of the other websites. It constantly direct quotes from the general of the mission and many other important people. The author created it to inform the readers of the UN’s failure in Rwanda. The information is one sided and does have bias supporting my thesis, however states good information and draws important conclusions. The author’s motive is really to motivate and persuade people about her opinion, which I would like to do with my speech. However her opinion is backed up with reliable information. This source is very critical of the UN and stated the organisation was the failure not the troops, there orders were inadequate.
(Wisner, 1994)
This source is reliable as it is a primary source because it was a summary about the Rwanda Genocide (written April 11th 1994). This document was a briefer for a dinner between Secretary Frank Wisner and Henry Kissinger, about the situation at Rwanda. They knew if the peace protest fails “a massive bloodbath will ensure” and the “UN will likely withdraw all forces.” This meeting took place 5 days after the presidents plane crashed and was declassified on the 18th of November 1998. This was only produced for Frank Wisner at the time. This is the perspective of the secretary of defence for international affairs which believed if the peace talks don’t work a massacre will take place and the UN will abandon the Rwandan people once again. The motive was to inform the secretary Henry Kissinger of the situation in Rwanda.
(Toljaga, 2010)This source is reliable because it is a primary source, and Nihada experienced and recalled these events. This perspective is of Nihada’s and it shows the experience she had endured as a child during the Srebrenica massacre and how she survived. Nihada was only young when this event occurred however she remembers it vividly. The audience this interview was produced for anyone how does not know much about what happened and people who want the opinion of a civilian. Her motive is to persuade people and inform them how the civilians were treated during the beginning of the massacre and how the UN were not to be found.
This website has two answers for one response, one supporting the UN and one against the UN. The perspective of the authors was either supporting the UN saying it’s doing as much as they can to help whereas the other perspective is against the UN saying they cause more problems than they can solve. There is no author as it is a blog, which makes it less reliable however less bias than the other websites as it allows you to compare the answers and make your own conclusions from the information. It was intended for audience who didn’t know much about the issue as it gave both sides of the story and was easy to understand. The motive was to inform the readers about both sides to the story. The site implied that the UN have failed there ultimate objective to prevent suffering as they have failed countless problems. This source is secondary as it recalled information; it is less reliable than a primary source. It corroborates with statistics showing failures, slow decision making and mockery. It is reliable as all information is reviewed before published. It was also corroborated with all the other websites proving the information given was reliable. I also could prove my thesis further with this website allowed me to use the information in favour of the UN and state why these points are incorrect. Overall it was a helpful site in the earlier part of my research journey, guiding me to develop my thesis (either proving or defying the UN’s success).
(Fitzgerald, 2013)
This website allowed me to pick two other failures and compare them. It was also one of the first sights I went to and was very helpful in directing me to what issues I want to cover. It was written by A. FitzGerald who is a reliable journalist. List verse also looks like a very professional site. This was secondary source however was factual on information such as dates and what the UN did/ didn’t do therefore making it still a fair enough reliable source. It also allowed me to compare the failures and choose which ones I thought were interesting for the class. Mr FitzGerald wrote this article to inform the audience as he used facts and is written in third person not using I or me to inform the reader. This website was produced for an audience interested in society and world issues. The perspective of the author is the UN’s dramatic failures and the perspective of the people who the UN have failed. It corroborates with my primary sources implying the devastation in these events are greater than the conflict resolution and the worst failures of the UN is when they cannot keep their promises.
(www.unitedhumanrights.org, 13/4/14)
This website is secondary source however the website was created by the united human rights council which looks to be a reliable source as they have information and cover topics about human rights and violations. The information gives me a clear understanding of what happened in the Rwanda genocide and would be a good starting point to explain how and why this genocide occurred. There is no bias’s in this source as it is pure facts, dates and information. It covered the perspective of the Rwandan people who needed the UN more than ever. The author is reliable and the audience this was produced for are researchers/historians as it has dates and a lot of factual information (percentages etc.). The writer’s intentions were to inform the audience in a very factual way. The website implies the UN was aware the Tutsi people were being targeted yet still did nothing to prevent these killings. This websites information corroborates with the other websites.
(haaretz.com, 2014)
This source is reliable as it is a digital Israeli newspaper which uses a combination of primary and secondary sources which includes quotes (indirect and direct), statistics and links to other websites. The primary sources were reliable as they were quotes of the UN mediator at the time of the Syrian crisis. The use of primary and secondary sources in this website makes it reliable as they corroborate. The perspective this article covers are the Syrian refugees, not the rebel forces or the government. The article is by Reuters an international website and shows no bias as it only represents the facts without being interpreted. This was produced for the public but an educated public on the background of the Syrian disaster. The authors’ motive is to inform the readers about the comments the UN made about their failure of the situation. This website implied that the UN are sorry for their failure and nothing much has been done to try to help. It is also suggested that the UN preach human rights yet do not act as if the civilian’s deaths are just a number.
(cbbc, 2013)
This website is reliable as it is from BBC a well-known and trusted news website it is also recently updated information and has very useful external links. It has easy to read questions and clearly stated answers, which could be intended for a younger audience who don’t know much about the topic. The information is easy to understand which informs the reader without complicating information. It also could be intended to help the younger readers gain greater knowledge on who, how and why this issue occurred. The perspective of this article was the UN which makes it a bit less reliable than the others as the UN could have left out vital information on why there peace keeping and preventing missions have not worked. There is a use of primary sources and secondary sources such as quotes from Frank Gardner (BBC security correspondent) and secondary sources such as statistics and indirect referencing. This website corroborates with the other sources as it has all the same facts and statistics.
(Gladstone, 2013)
The perspective of this article is of the people who the UN has continued to fail over the 2 years of being in Syria. The authors who created the article R. Gladstone and N. Cumming-Bruce published this article in the new York times, a well-known source making it reliable. R. Gladstone also has produced a number of other articles for the New York times about conflicts. As being for a newspaper the intended audience is for everyday people therefore the information given must be accurate. The source shows slight bias against the UN by not mentioning any of the UN’s success however using a variety of primary quotes and secondary evidence has proven the failures of the UN in Syria. This website implies that the UN role in Syria is a collective failure and during the 2 years there has been little to no progress. Also it implies the UN have acknowledged the failure of the Rwanda genocide and other mass killings as they have a responsibility to protect yet nothing has been done. They are all talk and no action. This website corroborates with the other sources/websites as they all prove the failure of the UN in Syria.
(Block, 1995)
The perspective of this website is of the people who the UN abandoned in these ‘safe zones.’ They have done this by showing quotes (primary) of those who believed they were abandoned and of the lieutenant who authorised the orders. This website is reliable as it comes from the website ‘the independent’ which covers a lot of conflicts and world issues. It also reliable as it has direct references of primary sources as quotes and secondary information. This affects the reliability as it could have included more primary sources other than quotes as quotes can be bias as they are opinions of a person. The author R. Block is a journalist who has published his own article to inform and partially persuade readers that the UN has outrageously abandoned the Bosnian in a critical time. The intended audience the source was produced for are people with a background knowledge as only states what happened six weeks prior to the massacre. This source implies the UN had volunteered to help when they couldn’t possibly handle this. Also it implies that they coldly fled the safe zones containing thousands of innocent people who later on were killed. This source corroborates with my other websites all stating the UN had abandoned the Bosnian people.
(www.tigweb.org, 2004)
This information is reliable as it contains more primary sources than any of the other websites. It constantly direct quotes from the general of the mission and many other important people. The author created it to inform the readers of the UN’s failure in Rwanda. The information is one sided and does have bias supporting my thesis, however states good information and draws important conclusions. The author’s motive is really to motivate and persuade people about her opinion, which I would like to do with my speech. However her opinion is backed up with reliable information. This source is very critical of the UN and stated the organisation was the failure not the troops, there orders were inadequate.
(Wisner, 1994)
This source is reliable as it is a primary source because it was a summary about the Rwanda Genocide (written April 11th 1994). This document was a briefer for a dinner between Secretary Frank Wisner and Henry Kissinger, about the situation at Rwanda. They knew if the peace protest fails “a massive bloodbath will ensure” and the “UN will likely withdraw all forces.” This meeting took place 5 days after the presidents plane crashed and was declassified on the 18th of November 1998. This was only produced for Frank Wisner at the time. This is the perspective of the secretary of defence for international affairs which believed if the peace talks don’t work a massacre will take place and the UN will abandon the Rwandan people once again. The motive was to inform the secretary Henry Kissinger of the situation in Rwanda.
(Toljaga, 2010)This source is reliable because it is a primary source, and Nihada experienced and recalled these events. This perspective is of Nihada’s and it shows the experience she had endured as a child during the Srebrenica massacre and how she survived. Nihada was only young when this event occurred however she remembers it vividly. The audience this interview was produced for anyone how does not know much about what happened and people who want the opinion of a civilian. Her motive is to persuade people and inform them how the civilians were treated during the beginning of the massacre and how the UN were not to be found.