Non-government organizations seen as the catalyst in modernizing United Nations

 After celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2005, the United Nations could be ushering the world into modern times with a reformed system designed to adapt to globalization. That is what Dr. John Trent would like to see happen in the next 10 years.

The author of the soon-to-be-published “Modernizing the United Nations System: Civil Society’s Role in Moving from International Relations to Global Governance,” Trent spoke earlier this year to an attentive crowd at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Montreal about the challenges facing the UN and how it can strengthen itself for the future.
“The question is not ‘what’ or ‘why’,” declared Trent, “but how to deal with the anarchy of globalization.” An expert in international political science, Trent is a founding member of the Academic Council on the United Nations System and a current member of the WFM – Canada Executive Committee. In his book, he offers “a call for action” concerning UN reforms that are long overdue.
Trent believes that civil society is the only beacon of hope to modernize the UN and that in order to undertake reforms, these organizations must come together to form broad-based international coalitions.

“Globalization has conspired with world politics to establish a global situation that did not exist at the time of the UN charter of 1945,” argued Trent. Modern society suffers from problems the UN could not have foreseen when it was established. Terrorism, climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor are global issues that have come to a head in recent decades. No proper institutions exist to keep these problems in check.
 “These problems are international but politicians always want to put the national interest first,” he said. He believes that solutions to these global problems must be collective and multi-lateral. 

Trent remained optimistic throughout his analysis. He believes that civil society, through organizations and international networks, has the necessary capacity to propel these reforms on an international level. He neither condemned nor praised the UN, accepting it rather as an institution that is outdated in several domains.

Report by Morgan Steiker, Concordia University.