Globalization. Information highway. Interdependence. Global village. Ever notice how the buzzwords and political jargon of our times seem to point to the emergence of a global community?
By now the idea that the world is one integrated, indivisible eco-system is no longer avant-garde. The proposition that some kinds of pollution do not respect boundaries and must be controlled globally is now fairly well accepted.
However, the next step in this flow of logic is slower in coming: that decision-making to solve global problems may require some sort of global political authority; that we need world institutions which are more democratic and accountable than the present United Nations and ways to make and enforce law which are more effective than the international treaty system.
But now even attitudes toward the UN and global governance may be changing.
Last year the UN celebrated its 50th anniversary. This served a tremendously useful purpose in shining the spotlight of world attention on the UN. In New York last October the largest ever gathering of Heads of State focused not only on the UN's achievements over five decades; there was also a growing acceptance of the need to reform the world body.
World leaders at the UN Summit realized what has become apparent to many: that we are passing through a turbulent period of world history, and that the UN must adapt if it is to remain relevant in the next millenium.
Some of the transformative changes altering the international system include the following:
- The decades-long Cold War has rendered capitalism triumphant and communism in decline. We can be thankful that the transition away from communism has been accomplished, so far (for this is a story still unfolding), with so little bloodshed.
- There is a growing world-wide acceptance of the principles of market economics. Even states which are still under communist or authoritarian style governments are scrambling to adapt their economies to free market models. Countries everywhere are under pressure to loosen restrictions to cross-border trade and participate in regional and global free trade regimes.
- Also characteristic of the post-Cold War era is the growing acceptance of democracy as the ideal form of governance. One recent estimate suggested that 60 percent of the world's governments are democracies. Democracy provides the political environment within which the fundamental rights of citizens are best safeguarded.
Accompanying and reinforcing these globalizing forces are a wide array of technological changes which are altering the course not only of global politics, but also everyday life for us all.
We are entering an age of global politics. But we still rely on World War II vintage legal and political institutions. So, what should we require in a reformed United Nations System?
The maintenance of peace and security has always been the UN's primary purpose. In future, the UN's Security Council must be reformed, in order that it better reflects the distribution of power and population in today's world and so that its decisions are taken on a more consistent and reliable basis. This may require the eventual abolition of the power to veto now held by the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain. In order to respond to conflict in a more timely and consistent manner, the UN will need its own permanent peacekeeping force, rather than having to cobble together an ad hoc force each time hostilities erupt. To mark the UN's 50th anniversary, Canada contributed some useful proposals for a permanent UN Rapid Reaction capability.
The development of a body of human rights law is perhaps the UN's greatest achievement over the past five decades. While the international community has succeeded in developing human rights law, and setting up bodies to monitor compliance (or the lack thereof) with the law, more needs to be done to ensure that human rights standards are implemented and enforced. In a world where more and more business is carried on transnationally, the development of more binding mechanisms to implement social and labour standards is particularly important. Perhaps the most hopeful development on the human rights front is the decision taken last November to move the proposal for an International Criminal Court out of the UN's Sixth (Legal) Committee and into a treaty-making process. This means that we will soon have a permanent international tribunal which can try individuals (including political and military leaders) for crimes such as genocide and some of the worst violations of international humanitarian law.
Protecting the environment and ensuring sustainable development globally were not foreseen when the UN Charter was drafted over 50 years ago. But this has been an increaing preoocupation for the UN over the years, as a growing world population puts strains the earth's ability to sustain life. There is a need to develop global environmental standards -- ones that are universally binding -- and to devise an internationl means of adjudicating disputes and ensuring compliance. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the new Sustainable Development Commission serve useful functions as fora which allow state representatives to study and debate global environmental problems. But global and regional environmental regulations are still enacted by treaties. This means that all treaty signatories must first agree to the new law; agreement is always at the lowest common denominator; and even at this lowest level of agreement, many states do not comply with the law. While diplomats dither, the world's environmental problems are compounding rapidly. A stronger UN organ is needed, one which would consolidate and coordiante existing conventions; and enact, through majority decision-making, binding law in fields where adequate institutions and procedures have not yet been developed. This body, perhaps a new UN agency or a reformed UNEP, would also ensure environmental protection of 'the commons' i.e. those parts of the Earth such as the oceans and atmosphere which are beyond the jurisdiction of nation-states.
The UN suffers from chronic lack of funds. Rather than rely only on voluntary contributions from member states, the UN must have what most other governing institutions have -- a secure, independent source of funds. Citizens in most countries are already over-taxed; a tax instead on the international economy could raise funds for the UN and also make it a more independent and autonomous institution. Taxing currency speculation or air travel or globally harmful activities like the burning of fossil fuels have all been proposed.
The most important of any reforms to the UN are those which would give it some form of democratic legitimacy. This is absolutely essential if the UN is to maintain the support of "We the Peoples" whose interests it is ultimately intended to serve. The world may not at this time in world history be ready for a world parliament, laudable though that goal may be. But a consultative, proto-Parliament, a 'UN Parliamentary Assembly' (UNPA) could be established fairly easily and inexpensively using parliamentarians on loan from parliaments of member states. A UNPA has most recently been recommended by Canada's House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, although the idea has been around for years. The Parliament of Europe provides a useful model. It began as a consultative chamber, its powers and responsibilities growing over time, as the European Union itself evolved. Similarly, a UNPA could be established under Article 22 of the Charter, and would add a qualitatively different dimension to the business of the UN. It would create a voice of the world's people -- through their elected representatives -- to a system which now hears only from sovereign governments, each advocating their own narrow interest while ignoring the collective interests of humanity.
Reforming the UnitedNations will not come about easily. For one thing, reform requires agreement from the very states which must lose power and influence in the process. Those who are presently the most powerful, the permanent members of the Security Council, also have a veto over any changes to the UN's Charter. In other words, the foxes are guarding the chicken coop.
The key to unlocking this puzzle is citizen pressure. Public opinion is already changing the way the UN does business. For example, public outrage at the ethnic cleansing and genocide in Bosnia, and later in Rwanda, forced the Security Council to create two ad hoc criminal tribunals to punish war criminals. Now the UN is about to create a permanent Criminal Court, opening up a whole new dimension of international law -- a criminal jurisdiction of law which applies to individuals, not just states. The public is also dramatically changing the face of UN conferences. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the 1994 Population Summit in Cairo and last year's Women's Summit in Beijing all involved contributions from tens of thousands of non-governmental citizens organizations.
One organization which makes reforming the UN a central part of its program is the World Federalists of Canada. World Federalists view the world as one society embracing all of humanity in all its diversity.
The world federalist idea can be quickly stated: sovereignty and democracy for the institutions of our largest community, the world. This long range goal guides world federalists in pursuing immediate strategies to strengthen and democratize the United Nations.
Federal systems of governance are those in which political jurisdiction is divided between different levels of authority. Today, more effective political bodies are required at the world level, not to replace nation states, but to address problems which are global in scope.
The World Federalist ideal, achieving a democratic federation for the world, is a large one. Probably it will be achieved in stages. Every step is progress. Every step makes another step possible.
The President of the World Federalists of Canada is former Dr. Lois M. Wilson.WFC is a member of the World Federalist Movement, an international association of 22 World Federalist organizations. The international President is Sir Peter Ustinov.
Membership in WFC includes membership in the World Federalist Movement as well as a free subscription to the Canadian World Federalist newsletter. To join ($35) or obtain more information, write to :
World Federalists of Canada 207 - 145 Spruce St., Ottawa, Ont. K1R 6P1.