Institutions Developing in a Globalized World Notes

Institutions Developing in a Globalized World

Introduction

• Dean Acheson's quote emphasizes the role of the United Nations (UN) as an instrument of international cooperation.

• The essential question is: How did globalization change international interactions between states after 1900?

• Globalization led to the formation of international organizations to promote collaboration among nations.

• The UN, through agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, offers technical advice and loans to developing nations.

• Organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) promote free trade.

• The UN's primary goal was to prevent conflict, born from the devastation of world wars.

The United Nations: A Structure for Peace

• Despite ideological differences, the Allies were committed to preventing conflicts from escalating into war.

• In 1943, the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China discussed the idea of the United Nations.

• The UN was founded on October 24, 1945, with 51 member states; by 2019, it had grown to 193.

League of Nations vs. United Nations

• The League of Nations was created in 1920 after World War I to resolve international disputes and prevent another world war.

• The United States never joined the League, fearing it would undercut U.S. authority.

• The League disbanded after failing to prevent World War II.

• The major powers realized that their participation was crucial for the success of the new organization, the UN.

Assemblies of the United Nations

The UN has six main bodies:

• General Assembly: All members have representation; decides on peace and security, new member admissions, and the budget. A two-thirds majority is required for decisions, and each member nation has one vote.

• Security Council: Acts on issues debated by the General Assembly and can use military force against countries violating UN principles. It has five permanent members: the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia, and China, each with veto power. Ten other members are elected on a rotating basis. Conflicts among the permanent members have often hindered the UN's ability to act.

• Secretariat: The UN's administrative arm, led by the secretary-general, who is selected from a small, neutral nation to avoid undue influence from powerful countries. The selection requires approval from all five permanent members of the Security Council. Staffers are loyal to the UN and cannot receive instructions from their home countries.

• International Court of Justice: Settles disputes between countries regarding international law. It lacks enforcement power, but the Security Council can make recommendations or take action in response to judgments. Most countries obey the court's decisions.

• Economic and Social Council: Directs economic, social, humanitarian, and cultural activities. It promotes green energy and seeks to raise wages in poorer countries.

• Trusteeship Council: Supervised governments of trust territories, helping them become self-governing and independent. With the independence of Palau in 1994, the council suspended operations but may become trustees of the seafloor or outer space.

The UN and Human Rights

• The UN aims to promote human rights.

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948, including rights and freedoms such as:

  • Freedom from slavery, torture, and degrading punishment

  • Equality before the law

  • The right to a nationality

  • The right to own property

  • Freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, and expression

  • Equal pay for equal work

  • The right to rest and paid holidays

  • Equal rights for children within and outside of marriage

  • The right to adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, and education

• The declaration set standards for all governments and people, translated into over 500 languages.

• The UN investigates human rights abuses like genocide, war crimes, government oppression, and crimes against women.

Keeping the Peace

• The UN is known for its peacekeeping actions, primarily through diplomacy.

• Special envoys are sent to resolve problems peacefully.

• Peacekeeping forces, including civilians, police, and troops from member countries, are deployed to ease tensions.

• The first peacekeeping mission was related to the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict in Palestine. Later missions occurred in the Congo, Lebanon, East Timor, and the Balkans.

• In 1988, there were only five active peacekeeping operations; by 1993, there were 28.

• Soldiers are usually lightly armed and instructed to return fire only if attacked.

• In the 1990s, missions were sent to Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

  • In Africa, troops oversaw Namibia's transition to independence.

  • They helped end civil wars in Mozambique, El Salvador, and Cambodia.

  • In Haiti, they maintained peace during a transition to a democratic government.

• Some efforts failed, such as preventing massacres in Rwanda in 1994. UN forces withdrew from Somalia in 1995 during a civil war. Bringing order to Bosnia had mixed results.

Challenges for Peacekeeping Missions

• Slow response times due to the time it takes to agree on a mission and deploy forces.

• Expectations that peacekeeping troops will stop fighting rather than monitor truces, run elections, and provide supplies.

• By 2019, the UN was involved in fewer but larger peacekeeping missions.

Number of UN Peacekeepers Deployed

• Year 2000: 30,000

• Year 2007: 80,000

• Year 2014: 95,000

• Year 2019: 102,000

Other UN Priorities

• Protecting Refugees: Providing food, medicine, and temporary shelter through NGOs and UNHCR. Early refugees included Palestinians who fled after the UN partition of Palestine in 1948. In 2019, aid was given to refugees from Venezuela and Myanmar.

• Feeding the Hungry: The World Food Program (WFP), established in 1961, has fed over 1.4 billion people affected by natural disasters or political unrest. Its first missions were in Iran, Thailand, and Algeria in 1962.

• Supporting Education, Science, and Culture: UNESCO was created in 1945 to repair war damage and focus on literacy, education, and protecting cultural sites as World Heritage Sites. Some countries, like the United Kingdom, Singapore, Israel, and the United States, have left UNESCO over political disputes.

• Other UN missions include the World Health Organization (WHO) for controlling epidemics and providing vaccines, and UNICEF for helping children after World War II and in developing countries. Human Rights Watch (HRW) monitors human rights abuses in 100 countries and advocates for policies to prevent abuses.

The Global Goals

• In 2015, the UN General Assembly set 17 goals to achieve by 2030, including:

  • Eliminating hunger and poverty

  • Achieving gender equality

  • Ensuring clean water and sanitation

  • Fighting climate change

• The UN collaborates with NGOs like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

International Financial NGOs

• Several NGOs work with the UN on economic issues.

• The World Bank: Created in 1944 to fight poverty by providing loans to countries. It expanded from dams and roads to social projects like education and disease prevention. Critics argue it often ignored environmental and cultural damage.

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF): Created in 1945 to promote stable currency exchange rates through short-term loans and economic advice. Some economists argue that IMF loan conditions failed to consider each country's needs. Critics insist that large, wealthy nations influenced the IMF.

• The IMF and the World Bank collaborated to create Pathways for Peace in 2018 to prevent violent conflicts.

NGOs Separate from the UN

• NGOs help maintain world peace and improve communication during globalization.

• The International Peace Bureau, founded in 1891, won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1910 and worked for nuclear disarmament in the 1980s. By 2019, it had 300 member organizations in 70 countries.

International Organizations for Peace and Cooperation

• Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation: Promotes healing and peace in countries affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, and ethnic violence.

• International Committee of the Red Cross: Responds quickly and efficiently to help people affected by armed conflict and disasters in conflict zones.

• Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (Fordham University): Trains and educates current and future aid workers at local, regional, national, and international levels.

• International Development Association (part of World Bank): Supports development activities such as education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture, business climate improvements, infrastructure, and institutional reforms.

• International Organization for Migration: Helped European governments identify resettlement countries for people uprooted by World War II. Provides service and advice to governments and migrants.

• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development: Shapes policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity, and well-being.