Click hereChicago, IL December 28, 2006 - A few days before January 1, 2007 when South Korea's Ban Ki-moon takes office as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Noble World Foundation posted a thought-provoking article entitled “A Call for Democratic Reforms of United Nations Security Council” at its website: www.nobleworld.org. Noble World Foundation is a non-profit organization, working to educate and inspire people to promote peace, harmony, and well-being in the world.

In this article, Shiv R. Jhawar, the founder of Noble World Foundation and author of the book, “Building a Noble World,”  writes, “It is time for the member nations of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to move from their narrow national self-interest to a global vision that embraces the interests of all humanity. Strengthening the UNSC by removing the right to veto and introducing the membership of regional unions can make this vision a reality.”

The UNSC is the main organ of the United Nations (UN) responsible for maintaining global peace and security. While awarding the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace jointly to the UN and its outgoing Secretary-General, Kofi A. Annan, the Norwegian Committee rightfully stated, “the only negotiable route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations.” 

Since its foundation on October 24, 1945, the UN has grown from 51 to 192 member nations. Despite this semblance of world-wide unity, fair treatment amongst nations is still lacking. The article states that the “law of the jungle” and “survival of the fittest” mentality still dominates many international relationships. On the world stage, the UN is unable at times to prevent invasions, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and global terrorist threats. Iraq war has sufficiently proved the ineffectiveness of the UN.

The article points out that in this age of globalization, the UN needs to replace “might is right” with “right is might.” This means, changing the priorities of a world system that currently spends $ 3 billion a day on armaments while 3 billion people - almost half of the world’s population - live below the poverty line of less than $2 a day.

According to the article, only a radically reformed UNSC can achieve sustainable peace and prosperity.Click hereClick hereAlthough the political structure of the world has changed dramatically since the creation of the UN in 1945, the UNSC is still dominated by the same five permanent member nations (P5) - Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and the USA. The P5, the main victors of World War II, still retain the veto power that can be used to protect their national interests at the cost of human progress. Jhawar declares that the veto makes the Security Council ineffective in cases where the P5 are not in unanimous agreement. If one of the P5 says “no” to a resolution, then it is “no” even if the rest of the world supports it. This cannot be called healthy democratic practice. To create a democratic structure, the first step to UNSC reform should be to eliminate the veto power altogether.

The current 15-nation Security Council has five permanent and ten non-permanent, rotating nations that hold office for two years. Analysts and diplomats have recommended the enlargement of membership by adding influential nations like Japan, India, Brazil, and Germany. However, in Jhawar’s opinion, this will always encounter strong opposition from their neighboring nations. Therefore, a lasting solution, as difficult as it may sound, would be to replace member nations with appropriate regional representation that may eventually evolve into unions like the European Union (EU). Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations, has already suggested that the United Kingdom and France should merge their permanent seats on the Security Council to form a single EU seat.

According to the article, the next step to UNSC reform should be to replace its member nations with appropriate regional unions. Jhawar explains that in a proper hierarchy, states make a nation, nations would make a regional union, and regional unions of nations, in turn, would make a global community. Thus, regional unions would become the necessary links between nations and a world body. Click hereClick heredemocratic regional unions of independent nations world-wide, following the model of the EU. The proposed membership of regional unions, representing the entire world population, in the Security Council would eventually raise the United Nations’ status to that of a true world governing body.

“Without these democratic reforms, the UN will fail just like its predecessor, the League of Nations, did after the First World War,” warns Jhawar. “It is universalism and humanism-not nationalism or militarism-that can ultimately empower the United Nations to spread peace and prosperity in the world.”