The year 2005 will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations. This event undoubtedly will promote discussions on the Organization’s role in the twenty-first century and in an era of globalization, its role is changing. The widening spectrum of threats to human security, the negative impact of globalization on many nations, and the emergence of new global threats, such as environmental degradation, international terrorism and transnational organized crime, require the coordinated response of the global community. The UN system is the sole universal instrument for responding to these challenges.
The main thrust of United Nations renewal should be the regeneration of its paramount functions: an effective instrument for global coordinated actions in response to new threats and challenges; the promotion and protection of human rights and democratic values; ensuring the sustainable development and ecological security of the planet; and promoting a dialogue between civilizations and cultures. And this will only be possible on the basis of strengthening the principle of the rule of law as enshrined in the UN Charter.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan stresses that the United Nations is currently going through the most difficult time since its creation in 1945. He warns of the proliferation of unilateral use of force, which is undermining the principles of collective security upon which the world has been based during the last 59 years. The United Nations has to adapt to the new political realities in the modern world.
The end of the cold war and block confrontation facilitated strengthening the UN role in solving problems. At the same time, regional conflicts in the last decade of the twentieth century and the inability of the United Nations to manage these conflicts led to the necessity of finding new ways to increase UN efficiency in maintaining peace and security, ensuring sustainable development, social justice and ecological security, and protecting human rights and democratic values—priorities of the norms and principles of international law. The most important task, especially in light of well-known events concerning Iraq, is the reform of the Security Council, whose primary responsibility is the maintenance of international peace and security.
UN reform should rely upon the unused potential of the UN Charter relating to the interaction between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular in the maintenance of international peace and security. It is vital to establish closer interaction and cooperation between the Security Council and leading regional organizations. Special Council meetings could be held to discuss regional cooperative arrangements in response to the most pressing problems.
In the case of conflict situations, relevant regional organizations should be invited to participate in Council meetings at the earliest stages of consideration. Regional arrangements and their mechanisms for maintaining peace and security could work together with the Security Council on the establishment and deployment of peacekeeping operations. Even those with no such machinery could provide political pressure to solve the problems that require international intervention.
Two global problems require urgent action that will determine the future of mankind: poverty eradication and ecological security of the planet. Poverty and marginalization are the direct sources of inter-State conflicts. To solve these problems, it is necessary to combine the efforts of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Trade Organization and other international organizations. It is possible to establish a world economic council, comprising the UN Secretary-General and heads of these organizations, to coordinate actions in combating poverty and ensuring sustainable development. This council could elaborate joint initiatives and recommendations on the most important economic issues, as well as determine principles of international cooperation, and submit them for discussion to the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.
Today, the problem that most requires urgent, joint and coordinated efforts is environment degradation, which affects all regions and each inhabitant. It is possible to establish an ecological council, comprising ecologists, scientists and environmental non-governmental organizations, instead of the now defunct Trusteeship Council.
Globalization, which affects all States, has an impact on all areas of international relations. These factors, driven by the globalization process, require the strengthening of the political and legal mechanisms of our world order. As Secretary-General Annan emphasizes, the United Nations should be fully engaged in tackling so-called “soft” threats, such as extreme poverty, hunger, unsafe drinking water, environmental degradation and new diseases. The “hard” threats, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, require strengthening the joint efforts of the United Nations and its Member States to confront them. In this regard the primary task of the world community in an age of globalization is the strengthening of international law and the development of a new world order of international cooperation. |
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