Global Governance: Political

ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENTS 

• Established in 1945 in response to the global suffering of WW2
• Therefore its purpose was to encourage greater co-operation between states to establish a system of global security that could resolve crisises

UN Charter 

• to save succeeding generatiobs from the scourge of war by encouraging the collective resolution of conflicts 
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small
• to ensure respect for international law 
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom
• 1948 = UN Declaration of Human Rights

Liberal institution of global governance - yet it is undermined by the role of state egoism and sovereignty

MAIN GOVERNING ORGANS 

SECURITY COUNCIL = enforce global peace and security; 15 nations sit in New York but only 5 with permanement veto members and the other 10 are elected for 2 year terms - pass binding resolutions 

• Veto powers of 5 permanent members shows clarity over leadership
• small membership means ease of convening in an international crisis 
• unanimity for military action means the case must be convining (2003 - were unconvinced for Anglo-American action in Iraq) 
• enlargement would make it more complecated 

• unanimity means consenus on military action is rarely reached 
• permanent members do not reflect todays balance of power = legitimact is questioned 
• unable to deploy a body of standing troops = many lives have been lost by the time the 'blue helmet' peacekeepers have been donated by member states 

REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL 

• Emerging powers such as Brazil, India, Japan and Germany could be represented on the SC in order to provide contemporary legitimacy 
• enlarging membership of the SC would better represent global opinion 
• voting within the SC should be a qualified majority - eliminating veto would make it quicker and easier to implement military action in a security emergency 
• own rapid reaction force the SC would be able to intervence quicker in emergancies

GENERAL ASSEMBLY = all 193 members of the UN are in the GA, with each state having an equal vote and need 2/3 agreement yet findings are non-binding and lack for force so more deliberative than legislative 

• only global forum for multi national debate of international issues - closest form of a 'parliament of nations'
• based on the sovereign equality of all nation states - each state is equal meaning powerful states cannot dominate 
• marginal powers can be heard - global response to climate change 

• often criticised for being a 'talk shop' which is irrelevant to pressing global issues 
• equality of states means a consensus is hard to achieve 
• resolutions are non binding and unenforcable which means its credibility is undermined 

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE = also known as the World Court sits in the Hague with 15 judges elected by the SC and GA for 9 year terms - arbitrate cases by UN nations and deliver advisory opinions 

• The 15 judges represent the main forms of civilisation and the principle of the legal systems of the world - most advanced judicial organ for the implementation of international law and a key organ of global governance 
• carries significant moral authority as nation states do not wish to be criticised applying a more 'rules based' approach to conflict resolution 

• liberal principles conflict with state egoism which promotes the neglect of ICJ rulings if not within a state's interests 
• only 72/193 have agreed in adavance to rulings and then it even lacks coercive power to enforce
• cannot initiate cases, only when requested and only result in adviory opinions 

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC) = its 54 members are elected by the GA with its role coordinating social and economic work of UN agencies as well as co-ordinating actions of the IMF, World Bank and WTO (bretton woods institutions) 

• Co-ordinates the work of various aid organisaions all in different areas 
• advanced the principle of development to not just mean economic but also human 
• has a growing number of agencies to address problems (Environment programme/ UNICEF/ UNHCR/UNHRC/UNDP) 
• given development greater global significance by establishing and publicising gloabal targets such as the Millenium Development Goals (2000-2015) and the Sustaianable Development Goals (2015-30)

• bureaucratic, cumbersome - very little sense of strategic planning 
• accused of being fragmented with different agencies trying to fufil the same role and competing for the same resources 
• jurisdiction of agencies overlap meaning accountability is blurred 
• role are less about merit and more about state equality 

HOW EFFECTIVE DOES THE UNSC RESOLVE CONFLICT 

• Peace keeping success - 1991 Iraqi safe havens, East Timor and Cote d'Ivoire 
• YET - permanent 5 often put own strategic interests first and so consenus is unlikely - Rwandan genocide in 1994 or intervention in the Syrian Civil War since 2011
• Peacekeeping has often been under resourced and lacked a robust mandate - Bosnian Civil War (1991-95); Democratic republic of Congo and Dafur

HOW EFFECTIVELY DOES THE UN ADDRESS POVERTY 

• WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, IMF = these agencies coordinate efforts under the ECOSOC
• UN MDGs and SDGs = provided important targets in reduction of global poverty and how it needs to be addressed not just economically 
• YET - World systems theory suggests that the IMF and World Bank actually reinforce structural inequalities 

HOW EFFECTIVELY DOES THE UN PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS 

• 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights estbalished moral goals that nations should aspire to 
• UN tribuanal have prosecuted war crimes and the creation of the ICC in 2002 
• 2005 'responsibility to protect' = inaguarated responsibility of intervention in preventable loss of life 
• YET - limted by state egoism, sovereignty and realism 
• UN declaration is only soft power and non-binding 
• ICC requires consent from nation states to be effective - the largest members refuse to accept its jurisdictions (russia, china and us) 
• Responsibility is often ignored (syria) because of conflict with westphalian principles of state sovereignty (realists - vital for stability)

HOW EFFECTIVLY DOES THE UN ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 

• UN intergovernmental panels and summits (kyoto 1997; copenhagen 2009; paris 2015 and katowice 2018) 
• yet the UN lacks enforceable power 

TO WHAT EXTENT HAS NATO'S ROLE CHANGED SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR

• estbalished in 1949 to protect the west from soviet agression - principle of collective secrurity (article 5) - combined response would deter soviet expansion 
• COLD WAR = NATO provided western europe with military protection and was defensive in nature 
• YET - its nece ssity was question with the fall of the USSR in 1991 
• 'out of area ot out of existance' 

TAKEN A MORE PROACTIVE ROLE IN CONFLICTS 

• 1995 Bosnian Civil War - bombed bosnian serb positions - subsequent sighing of the Dayton Peace Accords (1995) 
• 1999 NATO bombed Serbia to stopped act on Kosovo 
• Bosnia and Kosoce - nation played a role in nation building once fighting had stopped 
• 2001 - 2014 International Security Assistance Force played a role in supporting Afghan forces and then 2015 Operation Resolute support took over 
• 2011 - Libya meant Gaddafi regime was overthrown 

• 2009 - 2016 Operation Ocean Shield to end piracy in the Indian Ocean

FOCUS ON ORGINAL PURPOSE 

• NATO has expanded far into Eastern Europe (Baltic states and Poland) - conscious of the importance of collective security over their independance 
• Under Putin, Russia has become more assertive - 2018 attacks on Georgia and 2014 annexation of Crimea - shows vunrability of russia's non-nato neighbours 
• Failure to bring stability to Afgahanistan and Libya reinforces the idea that NATO has done too much and return to original purpose 

STRENGTHS 

• Maintain strong military leadership between US and Western Europe - less likely for the US to become isolationist, which could undermine European sovereignty 
• Expansian reduces the risk of Russia's divide and conquer strategy
• Defensive realists (kenneth waltz) say that NATO encourages peace by providing incentives for Russia to not threaten the West 

• Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) is extremly flexible and adaptable 
• Threats to the West are multi-directional ans they must present a united front 

WEAKNESSES 

• Not all member states feel equally prepared to give or recieve collectice security if Russia threatens the more vunerable neighbours 
• US complains that they are being freeloaded off within NATO as only 4 members spend more than 2% of their GDP and yet still claim benefits 
• advances in cyber technology may be the agression of the future - regards to article 5 is uncertain
• NATO's primary role could also be diluted by Jean-Claude Juncker's plans for European army