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The United Nations

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Resetting the Political Culture Agenda: From Polis to International Organization

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Abstract

The establishment of the United Nations in the aftermath of the Second World War depicted the political agreement of the coalition of states that confronted the Axis powers on the creation of a system of collective security based on common rules and principles.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Goodrich 1947, pp. 6–7.

  2. 2.

    Article 1 of the UN Charter stipulates the organization’s objectives: maintaining international peace and security (§1), developing friendly relations among nations (§2) and solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms through international cooperation (§3). Charter of the United Nations, 24 September 1945, 1 UNTS XVI. See also Schrijver 2006.

  3. 3.

    According to Siotis “the institutionalized multilateralism in the UN system was largely influenced by the lessons drawn from the League’s experience”. Siotis 1980, p. 25.

  4. 4.

    Under the League of Nations Covenant, states have accepted the obligation “not to resort to war” (preamble), to “respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all members of the League” (Article 10) and to submit any dispute likely to lead to a rupture “either to arbitration or judicial settlement or to enquiry by the Council” (Article 12). See Convenant of the League of Nations, Paris 24 April 1919, [1919] UKTS 4 (Cmd. 153). The Pact of Paris, signed by 15 states (including US) in 1928, condemned “recourse to war for the solution of international controversies” (Article 1). Contracting parties agreed that “settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means” (Article 2). See General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy (Kellog/Briand Pact), Paris 27 August 1928, 94 LNTS 57.

  5. 5.

    The establishment of the Human Rights Commission and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly and the Convention against Genocide in 1948, constitute the founding initiatives of the international human rights regime. During this period, UN efforts were restricted to human rights norms generation, through standard-setting, and promotion compared to the operational character of protection of the post Cold-War era. See Ramcharan 2008, p. 442.

  6. 6.

    It was under the League of Nations that international action in the field of socio-economic affairs was sponsored systematically, through the implementation of programmes related to resettlement of refugees, intellectual cooperation, trade etc. However, its legal basis, Article 23 of its Covenant, did not suffice to address the growing interdependence among states as well as emerging challenges that could not be faced by states individually. It was not until 1939 that a comprehensive package of proposals on the League’s reform to include policies of an economic and social nature (Bruce Report) was submitted to its Assembly. The Report, although never implemented (despite the fact that it was unanimously adopted by the Assembly), influenced the drafting of the UN Charter through the creation of ECOSOC and the inclusion of socio-economic provisions in the political agenda of the new organization. Dubin 1983.

  7. 7.

    Woods 2008 and 2006, pp. 326–327; and Leeson 2003.

  8. 8.

    An institutional handicap which was not remedied after the end of Cold War, despite the numerous attempts and alternative solutions proposed from 1947 until recently. Roberts 2010.

  9. 9.

    From 1945 to 1991 Chapter VII was evoked only in the cases of Korea, Southern Rhodesia and South Africa.

  10. 10.

    Such as due diligence, precautionary and polluter pays principles. It should be mentioned that Stockholm Declaration introduced the concept of sustainability (although not explicitly stated); two decades later, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) defined the notion of sustainable development that features in (almost) every dimension of contemporary international economic and environmental policies. World Commission on Environment and Development 1987.

  11. 11.

    Growing international concern on environmental issues motivated the European Economic Community to adopt its first environmental action programme in 1973.

  12. 12.

    The League of Nations’ system preserved the Eurocentric character of multilateral diplomacy of the 19th century, partly due to the failure of the US accession as well as due to the role of the European powers around the globe at the time.

  13. 13.

    With the inclusion of items related to the decolonization process itself (e.g. the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries—GA/1514(XV) of 14 December 1960); the establishment of a new international economic order (see below) and the introduction of concepts such the common heritage of humanity (see the Declaration of Principles Governing the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof, beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction-GA/2749(XXV) of 17 December 1970).

  14. 14.

    The first impressive enlargement (16 new members) took place in 1956, while in 1990 UN membership has reached 166 members (United Nations 2011).

  15. 15.

    With long-term impacts on the political environment of the organization. See Virally’s analysis on the integration of new states in the United Nations institutional environment and the dynamics of the North–South divide vis à vis the ideological confrontations during the Cold War, in Virally 1963, 1961a and b, quoted in Viñuales 2012, p. 547. For the impact of decolonization processes on the institutional premises of the post-war international relations see Bastid 1984, for the shortcomings of the international legal reality in the early post-war era and its need to evolve in order to accommodate the needs of the changing international environment due to the emergence of new states see Fatouros 1964.

  16. 16.

    The debate on the establishment of a new economic order has started in the 1960s.

  17. 17.

    According to the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, adopted by the General Assembly in 1974, GA/3201(S-VI) of 1 May 1974. See also Mahiou 2008.

  18. 18.

    Baslar 1998.

  19. 19.

    Cançado Trindade 2006, p. 373.

  20. 20.

    Reference is made to the 1994 Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Oxman 1994; and Brown 1995.

  21. 21.

    According to Malone, the end of the Cold War was translated for the UN as the “transition from peacekeeping to peace enforcement”. Malone 2008, p. 132.

  22. 22.

    The first post-Cold War era enhanced institutional ‘regionalism’; however, states’ and regional organizations’ perception of the role and institutional capacities of the latter often did not coincide, leading to “disturbing phenomena” according to Higgins, both in terms of UN’s operational effectiveness as well as in relation to the emergence of regional rivalries. See Higgins 1995, p. 452.

  23. 23.

    A/47/277—S/24111 of 17 June 1992, Boutros-Ghali 1992.

  24. 24.

    Boutros-Ghali 1995.

  25. 25.

    Boutros-Ghali 1996.

  26. 26.

    GA Resolution 55/2 of 8 September 2000. Millennium Declaration provided the normative framework of international relations in the twenty-first century, based on freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility (§ 6). Within this framework, member states committed themselves in a series of measurable objectives of progress toward peace and security, disarmament, human rights, democracy and good governance.

  27. 27.

    This fact contributed to the abandonment of the United Nations neutral position vis à vis different political regimes of its member states. See Sicilianos 2000.

  28. 28.

    Boutros-Ghali 1992, §9.

  29. 29.

    Boutros-Ghali 1995, §26.

  30. 30.

    According to the Agenda for Development “[i]n the absence of democracy as a forum for competition and a vehicle for change, development will remain fragile and be perpetually at risk”. Boutros-Ghali 1996, §122.

  31. 31.

    A/CONF.157/23 of 12 July 1993, §8.

  32. 32.

    United Nations administration of territories in the cases of Cambodia, East Timor and Kosovo are fine examples of the organization’s attempt to reinforce peace building and consolidation activities, by promoting democratic and human rights norms directly in the governance structures in situ; in that way, the organization aimed to contribute to the construction of civic cultures in post-conflict societies. Zervaki 2008.

  33. 33.

    As in the cases of Rwanda and Somalia.

  34. 34.

    Its member states’ failure to conclude an agreement or a road map for a post-Kyoto arrangement in order to address climate change in the Copenhagen summit is illustrative.

  35. 35.

    Member states’ hesitations to create a standing UN force, has also undermined its operational capacity.

  36. 36.

    Security Council’s late response to the Taliban uprise in 1994 is a typical example. The first resolution on the situation of Afghanistan adopted by the Council was in 1996 under the pressure of private interests of the energy sector in the area. Moussouris 1998. More recently, the organization’s differentiated responses to the crises in Libya and Syria raise questions related to its impartiality in relation to incidents that may threat or breach international peace on the one hand and on the other hand its ability to overcome the political dictates of the permanent five in relation to their regional interests.

  37. 37.

    The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (S/Res/827 of 25 May 1993) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (S/Res/977 of 22 February 1995).

  38. 38.

    Reference is made to S/Res/1373 of 28 September 2001 concerning the prevention and suppression of financing of terrorist acts.

  39. 39.

    In the post-Cold War era, two illustrative examples are NATO’s bombarding of Serbia in 1999 and US led military operation against Iraq in 2003 without the consent of the Security Council. During the Cold War, USSR’s unilateralism in the case of Afghanistan is also characteristic.

  40. 40.

    See Copenhagen Seminar for Social Progress 1999. The fact that the World Trade Organization established in the 1990s is not a specialized agency is indicative of these forces.

  41. 41.

    Unilateral behaviour or the denial of certain member states to adhere to legal instruments adopted within the framework of the UN system constitute typical examples.

  42. 42.

    For an account of the process that led to the creation of the Peace-Building Committee see Hüfner 2007.

  43. 43.

    Finally acquiring the status of a General Assembly subsidiary body instead of replacing the obsolete Trusteeship Council as initially proposed. See Cox 2010.

  44. 44.

    By November 2013, 122 UN member states have acceded to Rome Statue. ICC 2013.

  45. 45.

    For a comprehensive analysis of the different political and institutional dimensions of the process of Security Council reform see Weiss 2003.

  46. 46.

    The deliberations on the post-Kyoto era during the Copenhagen summit, for example, did not accomplish to compromise the interests of the group of rich states that were not eager commit themselves to significantly reduce gas emissions and developing states that did not agree to undertake the cost of limiting the growth of their emissions.

  47. 47.

    Either for the establishment of an operation (as in the case of Syria during the last years) or for the follow-up of an operation already developed whose mandate is ready to expire (as in the case of Korea in the 1950s or Rwanda in the 1990s).

  48. 48.

    Lowe et al. 2010, pp. 51–52.

  49. 49.

    S/2001/946 of 7 October 2001.

  50. 50.

    According to the 2002 US National Security Strategy “defending the United States, the American people, and our interests at home and abroad by identifying and destroying the threat before it reaches our borders. While the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting preemptively against such terrorists, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our country;” The White House 2002, p. 6.

  51. 51.

    In the letter of the US Permanent Representative to the UN addressed to the President of the Security Council, no reference to the new concept of “preemptive defense” was made; instead, the argumentation developed followed a safer path: avoiding experimentations with the emergence of new legal concepts and presenting US invasion as lawful, based on the authorization of the Security Council provided in past resolutions. See S/2003/351 of 21 March 2003. For an elaborate analysis of US position see Murphy 2004.

  52. 52.

    See S/Res/1441 of 8 November 2002. These obligations included, inter alia, that Iraq “shall unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, or rendering harmless, under international supervision, of: (a) All chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities; (b) All ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km and related major parts, and repair and production facilities;”, according to Security Council Resolution 687 of 1991. See S/Res/687 of 3 April 1991, §8.

  53. 53.

    For example, the adoption of the “Uniting for Peace Resolution” by the General Assembly in 1950, after the initiative of the US diplomacy, in order to overcome the deadlock in the Security Council concerning the UN operation in Korea. Zaum 1945.

  54. 54.

    These groups share a common geographical, socio-economic etc. background. For example, the contribution of the Arab group toward the adoption of Resolution 1973 concerning Libya in 2011 was vital. Another case is G-77 established in the early 1960s, representing developing countries. It is a powerful block of states that has initiated many resolutions mainly in the General Assembly but also in several specialized agencies of the UN system. For the changing trends in voting alignments after the end of the Cold War see Kim and Russet 1996.

  55. 55.

    The withdrawal of many of its members led to the demise of the League of Nations in the 1930s.

  56. 56.

    The fact that the US did not withdraw from UNESCO (as they did in the 1980s) when the organization granted Palestine full membership is indicative.

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  1. Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Antonia Zervaki

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Zervaki, A. (2014). The United Nations. In: Resetting the Political Culture Agenda: From Polis to International Organization. SpringerBriefs in Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04256-5_4

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