UN Chronicle | Chapter VIII of the UN Charter Needed: A More Open-minded Interpretation

Chapter VIII of the UN Charter
Needed: A More Open-minded Interpretation
By Roman Kirn

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It is beyond any doubt that the United Nations remains an unchallenged universal organization. It may be that not all expectations have been met by the United Nations, yet it continues to be the only forum at hand to address the global agenda overwhelmingly and effectively. No other international organization has the ability or the authority to perform this way.

One should not question the UN power and its raison d'être, but more likely its effectiveness and the political will of its Member States to entrust it with necessary powers. These are the issues we need to address, which could also benefit from taking into account the ever-expanding UN global agenda, already so difficult to deal with, and the growing importance of regional organizations, which are not only " protecting" and enforcing the principles of the UN Charter but also providing an added value to the Organization. To that effect, Chapter VIII of the Charter (on regional arrangements) is not only the source of legitimacy but also of inspiration and incentive to the work of many international organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

OSCE by definition is a regional organization whose authority is based on Chapter VIII. An institution of European security, it was established in 1975 as a multilateral forum for dialogue and negotiations between West and East; in a historical perspective, it is a reflection of the needs of that international environment. As such, OSCE has ambitiously complemented UN endeavours from the very beginning. The so-called Helsinki process, which brought OSCE (then CSCE) into existence, had essentially been a European process, inspired by the UN Charter. In its 27 years of existence, this process has scored a point of wide OSCE recognition as an organization of great practical value, indispensable for European security and cooperation.

The main problem with the OSCE today is its visibility; that is why many are questioning its strength and efficiency, even its very existence. There is a rather simple explanation for that: it is an organization of low intensity—its main field of activities is of a preventive nature, using instruments of quiet diplomacy (non-event is a success for OSCE)—thus, while being successful in orchestrating one event (i.e. the first Kosovo elections), it sheds less light on OSCE at large (unlike renewed conflicts if elections failed).

The very existence of OSCE, and in particular its effective performance in the field, is of great value to the United Nations. It provides added value to UN goals and strengthens its values and principles. Its successful work is solid proof of a functional UN system, adding to the strength of the international system at large.

OSCE is valuable in particular due to its:

transatlantic and pan-European dimension, including all European States, the United States and Canada;

multidimensional approach to security issues (not only military security but also the political, humanitarian, economic and environmental dimensions of security);

flexibility, which enables it to adapt quickly to changes in international environment;

role as an instrument of integration and solidarity, which is important because of its pan-European character.

The core philosophy of OSCE activities is the peaceful resolution of disputes and prevention of conflicts—the philosophy of the United Nations as well. OSCE happens to be one of the rare international organizations primarily engaged in preventive activities, thus helping to avoid conflict situations from occurring or gaining momentum. It is also an important framework for arms control. The 1990 agreement on conventional forces in Europe placed disarmament issues in the Euro-Atlantic area directly under the OSCE umbrella. In addition, the Vienna Document (1990, 1999) introduced a wide set of security and confidence-building measures, which substantially reduced the risk of armed conflicts. Human dimension remains one of the pillars of OSCE activities. The adoption of the Copenhagen Document (1990) was of vital importance for the development of the human dimension in the OSCE area; it introduced, inter alia, the principle that human rights issues were no longer exclusively an internal matter of the country concerned.

Finally, OSCE is valuable for its concept of cooperative security—a concept of non-hierarchical cooperation among different international organizations (including the United Nations), which by virtue of their synergy contribute to an increased security for all. This concept has the strong potential of resolving the everlasting dilemma between cooperation and competition, well known to the United Nations as well.

Ten principles guiding the relations between OSCE participating States, enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act (1975), are inspired and drawn from Chapter I of the UN Charter (on the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations). This is to say that OSCE had been established to support main UN objectives—by strengthening European security, it contributes to global security. In principle, there are many advantages that can be attributed to regional organizations: they are more flexible and easier to adapt to changes in international environment; they enable wider and faster identification of common interests needed for common action; and they provide more appropriate tools for effective implementation of agreed platforms. As long as regional organizations contribute to a global agenda, complement the work of other international organizations and add to the collective wisdom that shapes the United Nations, they serve the purpose and are extremely valuable to the world Organization—the more successful they are, the less is needed for UN involvement. That goes also for OSCE and its relationship with the United Nations.

Though it seems that west-east or north-south cooperation is being more and more supplemented by region-to-region cooperation and identification, incentives for an enhanced role of regional organizations worldwide seem to be a promising direction to discuss for the future role of the United Nations as well. This calls for a more open-minded and innovative interpretation of Chapter VIII, which could pave the way to a greater synergy in the work of international organizations and respect for the principle of subsidiary. During its existence, OSCE has proven to be willing and able to take this challenge on board.

Biography

Ambassador Roman Kirn is Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the United Nations. He was the Permanent Representative to the OSCE in Vienna from 2000 to 2002 and served as State Undersecretary and Head of the Multilateral Relations Department at Slovenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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