UN Reform: An Interview with John Trent

John Trent, a member of the WFM–Canada executive, is a Fellow of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa and author of the recently released book, Modernizing the United Nations System. As a founding member of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), he has followed the UN’s numerous efforts to reform itself over the years. In 2005, he co-authored a WFMC monograph assessing outcomes of the UN Reform World Summit.

MONDIAL: What global problems are most in need of more effective multilateral institutions?

JT: Global governance, human rights, environmental degradation (including global warming), failed states, the wealth gap (or, if you prefer, the millennium development goals), terrorism, international crime, epidemics and war, let’s never forget war.

This is not just an idle list of all the world’s adversities. They have in common that they link the world together; they go beyond the capacity of any state or group of states to resolve them; and individually and collectively, they can lead to system collapse.

The list takes us full circle because it requires that governments cooperate to find solutions to global challenges and this means improved global governance – for which reform of the UN is a key underpinning.

MONDIAL:  Generally speaking, what are the modifications that need to be made to the multilateral system?

JT: In the book, I forgo the temptation to present an ideal model of institutional reform so that the readers will focus on my subject, which is how to bring about change. Everyone and their mother have pet ideas about what to reform at the UN. Few have analyzed how to bring it about. Nevertheless, I present a compendium of reform proposals and it is safe to say we are looking at not just change but transformation toward a third generation international organization. So it must start with debating new norms and principles and new obligations for membership. It is also safe to say that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), that is, the transformation of sovereignty, will be the cornerstone of the new UN.

MONDIAL: How best should the international community go about modernizing the UN system?

JT:  I have analyzed previous efforts to reform the UN by states, academics and Secretaries-General. All have come up short. Studies suggest that UN transformation (not just little adaptive changes) requires mobilizing public opinion, rallying political leadership and invigorating the media. This means operating both inside and outside of politics and both at the national and international levels. It also requires lobbying skills and specialized knowledge of the field. When I canvas likely candidates with the qualities to take on this task, only international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) come to light. And even they must give themselves the clout to carry out the task by creating a “campaign coalition” dedicated to a long-term struggle.

MONDIAL: What gives you hope that NGOs – which generally are organized around a single issue – will organize collectively in pursuit of UN reform?

JT: There have been adaptive changes at the UN like the increase in membership of the General Assembly and the Security Council. But the only real transformation of international organizations since the Second World War was the creation of the International Criminal Court. It was mobilized by a coalition of NGOs. Don’t get me wrong. It also required getting it on the agenda, and some active leading states, and working with the media. But it was INGOs, with the World Federalists at the centre, which were the catalyst. I do hope it will happen again. 

MONDIAL: Article 109 of the UN Charter addresses requirements for changing the Charter and gives the five permanent Security Council members (P5) a veto over such changes. How do we address this problem?

JT:  With stealth and skulduggery. More seriously, the P5 must be shown that the transformation of the UN is in their own interest and that it will enhance their world leadership capacity. But in all likelihood they will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to UN reform by leading middle powers and by the mobilizing techniques of a powerful INGO campaign coalition. And let us not forget, as I synthesize in the book, specialists in globalization show it is brimming over with new important actors and many locales for influencing international action. It is no longer under the control of the P5.

MONDIAL: How do you account for successes like the progress made at the UN on the ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P)?

JT:  It is the proof of the pudding. It shows that change is possible. So far, R2P gives us a new rhetoric (adaptive change) but as yet no clear criteria, and no reliable means, and no sustained international will for putting R2P into action on a consistent basis.

MONDIAL: What is your assessment of the performance to date of the new Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon?

JT: Like most things at the UN, it is a mixed bag. Moon appears to be the quintessential quiet diplomat – so quiet that it seems as though the UN has fallen off the edge of the earth. It has become almost invisible. But (and maybe even because of this) there does seem – and I stress seem – to be some movement on Darfur and just possibly on Burma. But the recent miscalculations on the extent of HIV/AIDS were a terrible blow.