Lesson 4- The United Nations and Contemporary Global Governance

Public international law

international rules that govern interactions between states as opposed to say, private companies

Global governance

refers to the various intersecting processes that create this world order

International organizations (UNs)

refer to international intergovernmental organizations or groups that are primarily made up of member-states

Michael N. Barnett and Martha Finnemore

international relations scholars who listed the following powers of IOs

1. Power of classification

2. Power to fix meanings

3. Power to diffuse norms

Powers of IOs

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

defines what a refugee is

Norms

are accepted codes of conduct that may not be strict law but nevertheless produce regularity in behavior

Joseph Stiglitz

Nobel Prize-winning economist that criticized the IMF for using a one size fits all approach when its economists made recommendations to developing countries

New York

Where is the main headquarters of the United Nations?

1. General Assembly (GA)

2. Security Council (SC)

3. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

4. International Court of Justice

5. The Secretariat

the five active organs of the UN

General Assembly (GA)

UN’s main deliberative policymaking and representative organ

General Assembly

"Decisions on important questions, such as

those on peace and security, admission of new members, and

budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority of the ____

193

How many member states have a seat in the GA

Philippines

played a prominent role in the GA’s early years

Carlos P. Romulo

Filipino diplomat elected as GA President from 1949-1950

Security Council (SC)

Although the GA is the most representative organization in the UN,

many commentators consider the ____ to be the most

powerfuL

15

How many member states consist the SC?

10

How many member states does the GA elect in the SC to two-year terms?

1. China

2. France

3. Russia

4. United Kingdom

5. United States

Permanent 5

P5

These states have

been permanent members since the founding of the UN, and cannot be

replaced through election.

1

How many veto votes does it take from a P5 member to stop an SC action?

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on social and environmental issues, as well as the implementation of internationally agreed development goals

54 members

How many member states does the ECOSOC elect for three year terms

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

the UN’s central platform for discussions on sustainable development

International Court of Justice

task is to settle,

in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by

states and to give advisory opinions referred to it by authorized United

Nations organs and specialized agencies.

Internation Criminal Court

international court cases are heard by ____ which is independent of UN

Secretariat

consists of the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of UN as mandated by the GA and UN principal organs.

UN Council on Human Rights

can send special rapporteurs to countries where alleged human rights violation are occurring. If a country does not invite the rapporteur or places conditions on his/her activities, however this in information-gathering mechanism usually fails to achieve its goals.

Slobodan Milosevic

Serbian leader committed acts of ethnic cleansing against ethnic Muslim Albanians in the province of Kosovo

Salvador P. Lopez

Filipino diplomat was the chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights