Global Governance: Political

What is the United Nations (UN)?

The worlds must advanced intergovernmental organisation. It was established in 1945 and promotes peace, human rights and social and economic development.

What are the origins of the UN?

• Established in 1945 in response to WW2

• Purpose was to encourage cooperation, global security and peace and development

The UN charter (main aims)?

• Save succeeding generations from war

• Reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and human nature

• Ensure respect for international law

• Promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom

What is the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and its functions?

The main coercive body of the UN.

• Enforce peace and security

• Fifteen nation states sit on the security council in New York

• Five permanent members (USA, Russia, China, UK and France) and they have the power to veto resolutions

• Passes binding resolutions that can impose economic sanctions, authorise peace keeping missions and approve military action

What is the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and its functions?

A forum in which all members can debate any issue within the scope of the UN charter and each state has one vote.

• All 193 members of the UN are members of the UNGA which also sits in New York

• Non binding and is best seen as a deliberative rather than a legislative body

What is the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and its functions?

Its role is coordinate the social and economic work of UN agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

• 54 members and are elected by the UNGA

What is The International Court of Justice (ICJ)?

Also known as the world court and arbitrates cases submitted by nation states and can also deliver advisory opinions when submitted by UN agencies

• Sits in The Hague

• 15 judges elected by UNGA for 9 year terms

What are strengths of the security council?

Strengths

• 5 permanent members which can veto mean that the UNSC is provided with clarity of leadership

• Membership is mall and therefore it can respond quickly to international crises

• Cases for military action must be convincing as they’re needs to be unanimous agreement

  • e.g. in 2003 was unconvinced regarding the Iraq invasion

What are weaknesses of the UNSC?

Weaknesses

• There is often disagreement and gridlock due to the 5 permanent members veto

• The membership of the 5 permanent members represents world power in 1945 not today so the legitimacy of the UNSC is questionable

• UNSC does not have outs own body of troops which is can deploy and they must be ‘donated’ by member states

• Military action can never be taken against the permanent members due to veto which makes them above the law

In what ways should the UNSC be reformed

• Emerging powers such as Brazil, India, Japan and Germany should be represented on the security council to provide it with contemporary legitimacy

• Enlarging the membership would better represent global opinion

• Eliminating the veto would make it quicker and easier to implement military action

• Establishing its own rapid reaction force

What are strengths of UNGA?

Strengths

• Provides the only global forum for multinational debate for international issues and is the closest we have come to liberal institutions

• Based on the sovereign equality of all nation states therefore all members have one vote so powerful states are not able to dominate less powerful states

• Equal weight is given to the interests of all members therefore it enabvkles marginal powers to voice their opinions

  • although decision are not binding they carry weight because they are based on global consensus

What are weaknesses of the UNGA?

Weaknesses

• Been criticised for being a ‘talk shop’ which is irrelevant to pressing global issues

• Equality of states is also a weakness because it means consensus is very hard to achieve

• Resolutions are non binding and unenforceable so become irrelevant quickly which undermines its credibility

What are strengths of the ICJ?

Strengths

• 15 judges represent the main forms of civilisation and the prickle legal systems of the world and so is the most advanced judicial organ of international law

• It carries significant moral authority. Nation states do not what to be criticised by the ICJ and establishes a more rule based approach to conflict resolution

What are weaknesses of the ICJ?

Weaknesses

• Liberal principles of ICJ conflict with the realist state egoism ➙ according to realism nation states seek to advance their own interests which provides a strong incentive to ignore the rulings of the court

• Only 74 out of the 193 members of the UN have agreed in advance to be bound by decisions of the ICJ and the ICJ lacks coercive power

• The ICJ cannot initiate cases it can only provide judgements ➙ When NGOs request its intervention it can only offer advisory opinions

What are strengths of the ECOSOC?

Strengths

• ECOSOC coordinates the works of a variety of aid agencies each with a different focus on development

• Av=dvanced the principle that development should not be measured simply in economic terms, instead, ‘human development’ needs to be understood more broadly

• Administers a growing number of agencies that address different challenges including UNHCR, UNHRC and UNICEF

• Given development a greater global significant by establishing and publicising global targets such as MDGs and SDGs

What are weaknesses of the ECOSOC?

Weaknesses

• Accused of being bureaucratic and cumbersome

  • According to Helen Clark who headed the UN development programme from 2009-2017 it has little sense of strategic planning

• Fragmented with different agencies fulfilling the same role and competing for the same resources

• A large number of development agencies operate in one country at a time and their jurisdiction overlaps so much that accountability is blurred

• Important roles in ECOSOC are determined less on merit than win ensuing all states feel adequately represented

  • Saudi Arabia has a highly controversial record on human rights sits on the human rights council because no other country competed for its seat

How effectively does the UNSC resolve conflict?

Effective

• 1990 ➙ mandated military action to evict Iraqi forces form Kuwait

• Authorised the establishment of UN safe havens within Iraq to limit Saddam Husseins aggression towards his own citizens

• Mandated effective peace keeping missions in East Timor and Cote d’Ivoire

Ineffective

• permanent members put their own interests first on the UNSC and fail to agree on military action

  • Ukraine, Rwandan genocide in 1994 and no intervention in Syria since the civil war began in 2011

• China is able to roadblock liberal attempted to address the plight of Uighur Muslims in China and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar

• UN peace keeping missions have often been under-resourced and lacked robust mandate to enforce peace and end up being marginalised

  • This happened during the Bosnian civil war and more recently the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Darfur

How effectively does the UN address poverty?

Effectively

• MDGs and SDGs have provided important global target in the reduction of global poverty and the way poverty needs to be addressed (economic and non economic)

Ineffectively

• UN aid agencies often overlap and performance is poorly monitored.

• World systems suggest IMF and World Bank are actually reinforcing structural inequalities

How effectively does the UN protect human rights?

Effectively

• UDHR establishes a moral goal for human rights

• UN tribunals have also prosecuted war crimes

• In 2002 in ICC was established

• In 2005 the UN’s world summit issued ‘responsibility to protect’ for human rights intervention

Ineffectively

• UDHR is non binding sates are free to ignore

• ICC requires the consent of nation states to be effective and 3 members of UNSC (Russia, China and USA) refuse to accept its jurisdiction

• ‘Responsibility to protect’ has been widely ignored notably over Syria and Myanmar as it conflicts with Westphalian principles

How effectively does the UN address environmental issues?

Effectively

• The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have focused global attention on devastating consequences of climate change.

• Summits on climate change (Kyoto 1997, Copenhagen 2009 and Paris 2015)

• The UN secretary general Antonio has used his influence to to make sure the threat of climate change is appreciated ‘climate disruption is approaching a point of no return’

Ineffective

• Success is on the basis that member states are committed

What is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)?

• Established in 1949 to protect the west from the soviet sphere of influence and attack on one member would provoke military response by the whole of NATO

• Necessity was questioned after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

What has NATOs role been since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991?

Intervene in conflicts which could threaten western security:

• 1995 NATO took dramatic action in Bosnia this established the conditions for the subsequent signing if the Dayton Peace Accords (1995)

• 1999 NATO bombed Serbia in order to stop the governments ethnic cleansing of Kosovo

  • In both Bosnia and Kosovo NATO played an important role in nation building

• From 20010-2014 NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) played a role in supporting Afghan forces against the Taliban

• In 2011 NATO intervened in Libya to implement UN resolution 1973 stopping the governments attacks on citizens as a result Gaddafi regime was overthrown

• From 2009-2016 NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield combatted piracy in the Indian Ocean

In what ways has NATO retained its original goals?

• Since the Cold War NATO has expanded far into Eastern Europe newer members such as Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia)

• Under putin Russia has become more assertive ➙ reinforces NATOs alliance and ‘collective security’

• The failure to bring security to Afghanistan and Libya has reinforced the idea that NATO has taken on too much and should revert back to its origins

Strengths of NATO

• Maintains a strong military alliance between USA and Western Europe ➙ less likely USA will become isolationist and undermining security off Europe

• In 2020 ➙ NATO DEFENDER ➙ included 20,000 US military personnel this was the largest deployment and had the aim to deter potential Russian aggression

• By expanding reach into Easter Europe promoted new democracies and reduces the risk of Russias divide and conquer approach

• Defensive realists argue NATO encourages peace ➙ Russia won’t threaten western interests

• Prevents a united front to new challenges

  • At its 2021 summit NATO members recognised that China now presents ‘systematic challenges’ to their interests

Weaknesses of NATO

• Comprises of 30 member states (2021) members are now required to provide security for members very close to Russia’s zone of influence ➙ some members may not feel equally prepared to take military action if Russia threatens close members ➙ hinders collective security

  • Newest member North Macedonia is highly vulnerable to Russian interference and Russia might test NATOs unity by interfering in North Macedonia

• USA has complained that to many states ‘freeload’ only 4 European members spend 2% of the GDP on defence and everyone still claims the benefits of collective security

• Advances in cyber technology means there may be preferred means of aggression in the future and it is unclear as to whether this would trigger Article 5