Political global governance

Effective

Collective security (NATO)

Peacekeeping forces have legitimised humanitarian intervention efforts.

Member states voluntarily provide funding.

Absence of global war since 1945.

Legitimate organisations with clear charters and aims.

Increases chances that international conflicts are solved- framework for cooperation.

Ineffective

‘Talking shop’- irrelevant debating society

Imbalanced power (P5 vetoes in UNSC and US in NATO funding).

Can exacerbate tensions (NATO vs Russia or 1955 Warsaw Pact).

Peacekeeping is not always effective.

Exclusive membership- not everyone is represented.

Legitimises undemocratic governments by giving them a platform in the UNGA.

Paralysed by inaction.

UN (founding)

Founded in 1945, it has its headquarters in New York.

UN (charter)

The UN charter is a multilateral treaty that sets out UN powers within international law and outlines how it works. Founding objectives included maintaining international peace and security, friendly relations between nations, promoting respect for fundamental human rights, upholding respect for international law, and promoting social progress.

UN (Charter- self defence use)

The UN charter also allows states to use force in self-defence (Article 51) and allows for states to pursue military action if peaceful means have not been successful (Article 52).

UN (UDHR)

The UN drafted the UDHR in 1948 to establish absolute civil, political, and social freedoms that all humans should enjoy. It provided the basis for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), which both codified the UDHR. These 3 documents comprise the international bill of human rights.

UN (HR Council)

The UN’s Human Rights Council is an elected body of states monitoring individual states human rights records and putting pressure on them to rectify human rights breaches.

UN (NPT)

The UN played a crucial role in negotiating the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1968. 4 UN members have not signed this treaty (Israel, India, South Sudan, Pakistan), and North Korea signed it but withdrew in 2003.

UN (UNGA)

The UNGA has a dedicated Disarmament Commission (UNDC) and within the UN Secretariat, the UN office for Disarmament Affairs takes a lead.

UN (MDGs)

The MDGs agreed at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, represented a huge increase in focus and scope for the organisation’s development efforts. This continued in 2015 with the SDGs.

UN (Peacekeepers in Somalia)

In 1992, UN peacekeepers in Somalia were unable to defend themselves against a rebel attack and were forced to retreat. US troops attempted to rescue the situation by fighting back against the militias, with disastrous results.

UN (Peacekeepers in Rwanda)

In 1994, UN peacekeepers in Rwanda were powerless to stop a genocide from taking place in front of them. The UN had not given the peacekeepers permission to intervene with force against the tribal fighters. Between 50,000 to 1,000,000 civilians lost their lives.

UN (Peacekeeping operations Bosnia)

Peacekeeping operations in Bosnia (1992-95) failed to prevent Serb forces from executing 8000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, when Serbian forces overran a UN-declared safe haven.

UN (sidelined during War on Terror)

The UN was largely sidelined during the War on Terror, because the US was relentlessly focused on protecting its national interest. A UNSC Resolution authorised and created the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and the UN was heavily involved in reconstruction and development work in Afghanistan throughout the conflict, but ISAF was under the US military command, not the UN’s.

UN (Iraq lack of approval)

The US engaged in military conflict in Iraq without UN authorisation, and did not wait for UN inspections to declare whether there were WMD’s in Iraq or not. Russia and France aged for inspections to be given more time. The war was called “ illegal and not in conformity with the UN charter” by the UN Secretary-General.

UN (Syrian uprising and Russian intervention)

In Syria, uprising were met with aggressive government resistance, with over 500,000 killed and more than 6 million refugees. In 2015, Russia decided to intervene unilaterally with controversial military reaction to support the Assad regime. Eventually, France, the UK, and the US, began air strikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The only meaningful UNSC action was the resolution to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons, but human rights observers reported that chlorine gas barrel bombs were still being used by the government against rebel forces. In April 2017, a suspected chemical attack on Syrian town of Khan Shaykhu, killed at least 74 people (many kids) and injured ~550.

UN (ECOSOC)

ECOSOC has a growing number of agencies that address different challenges. These include the UN’s Environment Programme, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The UNDP coordinates development programmes in 177 nation states and since 1990 has published human development reports.

UN (ECOSOC subsidiaries)

ECOSOC has 14 subsidiary bodies.

UN (UNDP)

The UNDP has a budget over $5 billion.

UN (Amartya Sen)

Amartya Sen, an Indian economist, created a theory that development should be measured much more , based on social welfare, democracy, poor opportunities, etc.

UN (UNSC)

The UNSC has 15 members, 5 permanent, 10 elected for a 2 year period by the UNGA. The P5 have a veto.

UN (UNSC peacekeeping forces)

The UNSC has authorised peacekeeping forces being deployed in over 70 operations since 1948.

UN (UNSC sanctioned Iran)

The UNSC sanctioned Iran from 2005 to 2015, demanding they stopped producing nuclear weapons. They have fully banned textile exports from North Korea since 2006, capped petrol imports as well as crude oil imports into North Korea.

UN (UNSC veto uses)

Russia has used its veto in the UNSC 158 times since 1945. France and the UK haven’t vetoed since 1989. In 2020, Russia and China vetoed 3 resolutions calling for improved humanitarian assistance to be sent to Syria. Russia has vetoed 17 times since 2011 to block efforts for Syria. The US have used their veto 87 times, 45 for Israel, so that resolutions cannot be enforced on Israel. The last time the UNSC were all in agreement was in 2011 in Libya (UN Resolution 1973 establishing a no-fly zone).

NATO (founding)

Formed in 1949 with Benelux, France and the UK. A year later, the US and other states joined. Has 32 members.

NATO (Article 5)

Article 5 of the charter states that an attack against one is an attack against all.

NATO (1st Sec-Gen)

General Lord Ismay, the 1st NATO Secretary-General, said that NATO was to “keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down.”

NATO (Invitation)

Countries must be certain economic/political/military goals to join and can only become a member at the invitation of the council.

NATO (Military aspects)

All NATO countries participating in the military aspect contribute forces/equipment. These are under national command until needed by NATO. However, NATO does possess AWACS early warning radar aircraft.

NATO (Decisions)

Decisions must be unanimous.

NATO (Yugoslavia)

NATO became involved in 1994 after the break up of Yugoslavia and the nationalist fighting that left 278,000 dead. Operation Deliberate Force meant to provided air support and strikes at Bosnian Serb forces. After the Srebrenica massacre, NATO increased its military strikes on Serb forces to force them into a ceasefire, resulting in the 1995 Dayton Accords.

NATO (Serbian bombing campaign)

In 1999, NATO began a 77 day bombing campaign against Serbia to end the conflict between Serbia and the Kosovo Liberation Army. Military forces in Kosovo were hit, along with targets in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. NATO peacekeepers moved into the province after the Yugoslavia leader Milošević agreed to NATO demands.

NATO (2001 Article 5)

Article 5 was invoked only once on 12/9/2001 in response to 9/11. This allowed NATO to carry out attacks on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, accused of harbouring the leadership of Al-Qaeda.

NATO (UNSC resolution with Libya)

In 2011, NATO enforced UNSC resolution 1973, with a no fly zone over Libya and an arms embargo against them. NATO, with Qatar and UAE assistance, officially enforced the resolution.

NATO (Maritime surveillance)

In 2001, NATO launched the Maritime surveillance Operation Active Endeavour, focused on detecting and deterring terrorist activity in the Mediterranean Sea. It was terminated in 2016 and was succeeded by the Sea Guardian, a flexible maritime operation able to fully perform maritime security operation tasks.

NATO (AMISOM)

Since 2007, NATO has assisted the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) by providing airlift support for AU peacekeepers. NATO provide expert training support to the African Standby Force (ASF) at the AU’s request.

NATO (Article 4)

Article 4 (member states raising concerns) has been invoked 7 times- 5 by Turkey as a result of tensions with Syria, once by Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and then by many in 2022 as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

NATO (IPAP)

Ukraine is one of 8 countries in eastern Europe with an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP)- plans to deepen their relationship with NATO.

NATO (US defence spending)

The US accounts for over 2/3 of defence spending of all NATO allies.

NATO (non-US defence spending)

France, Germany, and the UK account for 1/2 of NATO members defence of the non-US NATO allies.

NATO (defence spending guidelines)

In 2006, NATO members agreed on a guideline that states should spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence. In 2015, only 5 states were meeting this commitment and in 2020, only 10 states were.

NATO (Response Force)

In 2014, NATO expanded its Response Force from 13,000 to 40,000 troops, creating a new ‘spearhead force’ of 5000 troops, and established new headquarters in its member states in the Baltic and eastern European regions.

NATO (Trump threats)

In 2018 and in 2024, Trump has considered withdrawing from NATO. He felt that NATO relies too heavily on the US and other members do not contribute enough to defend spending.

NATO (Turkey and Russia)

NATO allies expressed concerns when Turkey bought a $2.5 billion air defence system from Russia in 2015. The US even issued sanctions against Turkey.

NATO (UN mandated force)

NATO commanded the UN mandated International Security Force in 2003-14, and from 2015 has led the Resolute Support Mission to train, advise, and assist Afghan security forces.

NATO (First military action)

NATO’s first military action involved shooting down 2 Bosnian-Serb aircraft violating a no fly zone over central Bosnia in 1994.

NATO (Responsibility)

The Srebrenica massacre and other perceived UN failures led to NATO taking responsibility for post war peacekeeping when they set up IFOR providing 60,000 peacekeepers in 1995. This was reduced with the organisation of a stabilisation force (SFOR). They have since been replaced by an EU force.

NATO (Kosovo peacekeeping)

18,000 (mainly European) NATO troops maintain a peacekeeping role in Kosovo. This has since fallen to ~4000.

NATO (2024 Washington Summit)

At the 2024 Washington Summit, Allies confirmed their support for Ukraine on its irreversible path to NATO membership. They agreed to establish NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) to coordinate the provision of military equipment and training for Ukraine. They also announced a pledge of long-term security assistance for Ukraine, providing a minimum baseline funding of €40 billion within the next year.