Sitting for a term of approximately three months per year5 the Assembly must attempt to carry out its agenda in this short period. This has almost certainly resulted in lack of time to discuss all of the issues that arise in the seven areas that correspond to the Assembly’s main interest.6 By placing such time constraints on the Assembly it is surely unable to carry out its duties to full effect.
Whittaker has proposed that the Assembly could be made more effective by allowing it to work the whole year with the aid of working groups, so long as its agenda were made sufficiently compact. Whittaker’s proposal is simplistic in nature and could even be described as ‘obvious’ but this is often the case with many good ideas. His proposals would mean greater representation for minority issues since there would be extra time to discuss them. The extended session would also leave the Assembly better equipped to
- Whittaker. D. J, United Nations in the Contemporary World, 1997, Routledge, p106
- Simons. G, The United Nations – A Chronology of Conflict, 1994, MacMillan, p56 & p57
- Whittaker. D. J, United Nations in the Contemporary World, 1997, Routledge, p107
deal with crises and world events as they happen, raising the possibility of prevention of dangerous situations rather than cure. Unfortunately such a proposal would meet resistance due to the increased costs involved in financing working groups and the extended term. Those who wish to streamline the organisation, in particular the business world and conservative groups, would also provide stiff opposition.
Similar to the European Parliament, there are those who believe that the General Assembly ought to have legislative powers. This could be made possible by amending the UN Charter, a difficult job in itself. Established in 19477 the International Law Commission, which is affiliated to the Assembly, suggested that the possibilities for giving legislative competency to the Assembly be reconsidered. Legislative competency would certainly result in the Assembly becoming more powerful and less of a ‘talking–shop.’ But would this proposal serve the interests of all member states? Certainly the Afro-Asian bloc would welcome legislative competence in the Assembly, as this would in some respect reign-in the ‘imperialist policy’ making powers of the US-led west who dominate the Security Council. Naturally this would not been seen as advantageous by those in the west who cling to their power greedily.
Surely hunger to maintain the dominance of the west, and in particular Washington, would be the downfall of this particular reform proposal despite the fact that it could make the UN a far more effective organisation by strengthening the assembly.
Legislative competence in the Assembly is an ideal that could prove useless unless changes were to be made in other areas of the organisation. Simons argues that ____________________________________________________________________________
- Whittaker. D. J, United Nations in the Contemporary World, 1997, Routledge, p107
giving the Assembly legislative competency would be a futile exercise unless the powers of the Security Council were addressed.8 Simons point is accurate and presents one more obstacle on the road to the Assembly gaining legislative powers, as that would require the agreement of the five permanent members of the Security Council, an unlikely state of affairs.
The Security Council
Power struggles are clearly a problem within the UN in general and are especially detrimental in relation to the effectiveness of the Security Council. Dominated by the US and representative of only the main powers as they were in 1945, the Security Council is the most powerful UN body and is responsible for, “…international peace and security under Article 24 (1).”9 This situation has been the root cause of many problems that have reduced the effectiveness of the UN and nowhere have its consequences been more blindingly illuminated than in the Councils refusal to take action against the allies and trading partners of its permanent members.
Several critics have suggested reform by enlargement. One Italian proposal that has gained much support is, “Allowing middle powers to rotate in and out of the Council.”10 There is no doubt that the Italian proposal would increase representation within the Council but it is unlikely that the rotating powers would be free of influence from the current five permanent members since votes are easily bought and the current permanent members can afford the price.
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- Simons. G, The United Nations – A Chronology of Conflict, 1994, MacMillan, p78
- World Federalists of Canada, UN Reform? Not Anytime Soon, But…, Published by the World Federalists of Canada in ‘Mondial,’ October 1999 , p1
- Bertrand. M, The UN as an Organization. A Critique of its Functioning, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 6 (1995) No. 3
Increasing the number of permanent members of the Council to seven by including Japan and Germany is an idea for reform that has even received support in the past from the US. This plan, according to Bertrand (Former Member of the UN Joint Inspection Unit) would be most beneficial to the functioning of the organisation particularly as it would provide, “…more finance for peace-keeping.”11 Times have however, changed, and Germany’s anti-war stance on the current Iraq crisis may have been enough to change the opinion of the US as regards this proposal. Washington no longer views Germany as benign.
It is difficult to criticise reform of this nature as not only would it lead to greater representation within the permanent members of the Security Council but also by bringing extra finance to peacekeeping operations it would remove some of the burden from the current permanent members. In turn this ought to redress the balance of power within the Security Council as financial contributions are often used as bargaining chips in attempts to sway votes, thus the Council could work more effectively.
Yet again the problem of the five permanent members’ veto could pose a serious barrier to any form of reform at the Security Council. Increased representation is an ideal that must be reached but there are current permanent members of the Council who will, in pursuit of their neoconservative ideals, almost certainly veto any such proposal. In order for the Security Council to be made effective, the veto must be replaced.
Peacekeeping
There can be no doubt that people who are living in the midst of conflict have come to expect and rely on United Nations peacekeeping. UN forces are perceived by many as
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11. Bertrand. M, The UN as an Organisation. A Critique of its functioning, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 6 (1995) No. 3
an effective means of ensuring that war crimes and humanitarian disasters do not take place. But are the United Nations’ peace enforcement methods effective? Moxon-Browne asserts that, “Questions are being asked about the conduct, effectiveness, management and impact (of the peacekeepers).”12
One area where current peace keeping provisions are believed to have failed overwhelmingly is in, “The determination of intervention criteria.”13 According to Whittaker the events that lead to a need for peacekeeping do not necessarily involve aggression; human rights violations and natural disasters such as earthquakes are also causes therefore the United Nations agendas in this respect need to be made clearer. This could be managed by the setting up of groups of military, human rights and scientific experts in order that situations requiring peacekeeping could be quickly determined and humanitarian crises prevented.
Undoubtedly there would be pronounced benefit in a working group that does not consist of politicians, as lifesaving operations ought to be free of political interference. By making the group directly answerable to the Security Council decisions as to whether to send in forces could be made without protracted discussion in the Assembly, creating what would almost certainly be a more efficient process for the deployment of forces and the saving of lives.
Not all peacekeeping can be carried out by soldiers. Civil unrest can also result in a need for some form of peacekeeping. Current events in Iraq where there has been a
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12. Moxon-Browne. E, A Future for Peacekeeping?, 1998, MacMillan Press, p192
13. Whittaker. D. J, United Nations in the Contemporary World, 1997, Routledge, p112
breakdown in law and order following the US led invasion has demonstrated the need for some form of UN civilian police service that can be deployed in times of need. Army personnel are not equipped for this sensitive job and certainly would not be welcomed in many situations. There has been, from time to time, a requirement for an independent police force that can be quickly deployed particularly in areas where the outgoing government has left a power vacuum or where natural disaster has rendered the national police force ineffective. What has been forgotten by the UN is that peacekeeping can be needed between civilians as well as soldiers. The UN could maintain peace far more effectively if it had the capacity to police.
The United Nations does not have a standing military force and national governments are often reluctant to donate troops to a UN peacekeeping force specifically due to the, “Intra – state character of many conflicts, raising questions about sovereignty”14 as well as financial and political matters. Even when troops are donated to a peacekeeping force discrepancies in training and equipment can result in the deployment being less effective than if there were one uniform force. This situation is in dire need of reform due to the fact that peacekeeping is one of the most important functions of the United Nations and as such, must be seen to be effective.
Simons is of the opinion that, “Support should be given to the development of UN facilities able to transcend the whims of individual states…for example, a standing UN military capability.”15 Diehl concurs with Simons and adds that there would be four
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14. Moxon-Browne. E, A Future for Peacekeeping?, 1998, MacMillan Press, p192
15. Simons. G, UN Malaise – Power, Problems and Realpolitik, 1995, MacMillan Press, p237
advantages to such a force, “Professionalism, reaction time, efficiency and financial stability.”16
In addition to the advantages listed by Diehl there can be little doubt that the formation of a standing force would be beneficial as the force would be answerable only to the UN, removing it from the sphere of influence of national governments. This would allow peacekeeping to be determined by necessity and not politics. However, for Simons’ idea to be truly effective the Security Council would have to be dramatically reformed as the five permanent members could veto any proposed action, resulting in the peacekeeping forces being yet again at the mercy of individual states.
Conclusion
Professor R. Hinde of St John’s College in Cambridge wrote in a recent letter that, “Nobody can deny that the United Nations has many weaknesses. Its structure was devised for the World as it was nearly sixty years ago, and reform is urgently needed.”17
Much has changed in those sixty years and the World is a very different and less predictable place. Hinde’s assertion highlights the growing concern, particularly in light of recent events in Iraq, that the United Nations is headed towards the same self-destruction that ultimately befell the League of Nations. It is inconceivable that the UN will survive without radical reform.
The proposals for reform which have been set out in this paper are all, in themselves,
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16. Diehl. P. F, International Peacekeeping, Baltimore, Md, Johns Hopkins University Press, p134 – 142
17. Letter from Professor Robert A. Hinde, FRS of St John’s College, Cambridge. The Times, April 3rd 2003
good ideas that if put into practice would certainly improve the functioning of the UN. Unfortunately there are issues within the UN resulting from deep political differences and
powers struggles that have rendered reform exceptionally difficult.
It is the conclusion of this paper that in a world where American hegemony is becoming all the more apparent, the UN must reform in order to make itself a more effective opponent of a new type of imperialism. A bi – polar system of World powers would certainly be safer and more stable than the current situation.
There are many proposals for reform that would make the organisation more effective but there are definitely going to be problems on the way to change. What is certain is that the UN ought to benefit the World as a whole and therefore reform must take place, before it is too late.
Bibliography
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World Federalists of Canada, UN Reform? Not Anytime Soon, But…, Published by the World Federalists of Canada in ‘Mondial,’ October 1999 , p1.
UN Doc A/50/60 – S/1995/1, Supplement to ‘An Agenda for Peace,’ Para 43 – 45.
