It’s Time For Fundamental Reforms at the United Nations

The UN General Assembly is empowered to make only non-binding recommendations to governments on international issues. The real power is held by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which is made up of five permanent members with the power of veto and ten non-permanent members. The UNSC has the power and responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. The UNSC illustrates the extent to which the most powerful countries manipulate the UN. It is undemocratic to let a single permanent member to veto against an overwhelming majority. How can the UN claim to be the advocate of democracy without being democratic itself? This system of veto is the single biggest cause of the stalemate at the UN, rendering it ineffective in tackling international disputes.

Furthermore as it has been widely recognized, the UNSC represents the outdated post World War II world powers. Brazil, India, Japan, South Africa and Germany are now rightfully claiming for Permanent UNSC seats. However, it is impractical to expect five major superpowers with such varied and contradicting self-interests to agree on a common issue. By expanding UNSC to 8 or 10 members, we will make decision-making virtually impossible. It is easy to point out flaws in any system; the important thing is to propose a better, solid and practical alternative. One alternative to the paralyzing veto system could be rating participating countries based on parameters such as population and track records in democracy, human rights, the environment and so on.

Here’s a sample of how this could work: 

COUNTRY	TOT	1 POP	2 GEO	3 DEM	4 RHT	5 ENV		6 PER	7 PEA	8 ECO		9 POL	10 AID
	10					E	A			A	T
GERMANY	7.9	5.5	4	10	9.5	1.5	4.5	9	9	4.5	3.5	9	9
INDIA	6.5	9.5	6.5	8	7.5	3	2.5	8	3	1.5	4	8	2.5
JAPAN	8.3	6.5	4	10	9.5	2	3.5	9	10	5	4.5	9	10
BRAZIL	6.4	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.5	3	3	7	6	2	4	7.5	1.5
EGYPT	3.9	4	5	1.5	2	3	0.5	5	6	2	2.5	6	1.5
IRAN	3.0	4.5	5.5	4	1	3.5	0	1	2	1	2	5	0.5
AUSTRALIA	7.7	2.5	7.5	10	10	1.5	4	9	8	4.5	3.5	8.5	8
NORWAY	7.6	1.5	4	10	10	2	3.5	10	10	4.5	3	7.5	10
ISRAEL	3.95	1.5	2	8.5	4	2	3	1	0	4.5	2.5	8	2.5
NIGERIA	3.8	6	5	5	5	3	1	6	1	0.5	1.5	4	0
S. AFRICA	6.3	3.5	5	8.5	9.5	2.5	1	9	4	4	3	7	6

TOT: Indicates total/average votes out of maximum 10 a nation should be granted. 

1 & 2: POP and GEO – Population [POP] and Geographic size [GEO] are the most obvious and logical parameters. They indicate the natural and human resources of the nation.  

3 & 4: DEM and RHT- Democracy [DEM], Human and Civil Rights [RHT] records are indicators of the moral authority of the governments claiming to represent their people.  

5: ENV: Environmental and Sustainable development challenges are going to be increasingly important in years to come. Countries which are taking the lead in the areas of conservation [E] and in the development of alternative energy resources [A] must be rewarded. This may give incentives to more reluctant members.

6: PER: The public opinion of each nation must be taken into account.

7: PEA: Nations must be credited for their records in maintaining and encouraging overall peace and stability. Major aspects considered should be role played as mediator, contribution to UN peacekeeping missions, percentage spending on defense [those spending less obviously deserve more points] and level of internal violence [crime rates]. 

8: ECO: Countries with economic strength contribute to overall human development in many areas, including science and technology. The basic concept here is to reward countries for their contribution to humankind. Economic strength is one practical indicator. To be fair with small countries with smaller economies but high per capita income, per capita income [A] and GDP [T] both should be equally treated.

9. POL: The regional and international political influence of nations has to be considered separately. Political influences are often unevenly distributed, independent of other parameters because of historic and cultural reasons [Examples- France, Britain, Israel, Venezuela etc]. By including this parameter we can make sure that complex geopolitical realities of our world are properly reflected. 

10. AID: Rich countries fulfilling their moral obligations to poorer nations should be awarded accordingly. On the other hand, poorer nations successfully curbing corruption and utilizing aid money wisely and efficiently should get fair points. 

Now, convincing the current UNSC permanent members to give up their privileges won’t be an easy task. To expect US, China and Russia to abandon their “sacred right” of veto is almost impossible. One way to deal with this dilemma is to offer them a fixed maximum point [10] for the next 100 years. I know there are many other complexities and potential dead ends like method of determining points [number of votes] allocated for each country. A combined panel of former government officials, economists, social scientists and intellectuals can be set up to evaluate data from respected sources to determine points.

             

In the final analysis, our differences around the globe are superficial but our similarities are fundamental. We all inhabit and share this small planet, breathe the same air, aspire for peace and prosperity and cherish our children’s future. Making these changes at the UN will strengthen worldwide democracy, peace and prosperity. Now is the time to acknowledge that we are not just citizens of one particular country, but citizens of the world.

Pratik P. Patil is a 19 year old student with passion to make a difference for a better world but currently struggling to pursue studies in his fields of interest.Comments and suggestions are welcome. Please send them to [email protected] Special thanks to: Benjamin Dangl for painstakingly editing this article several times to make it readable! And Prof. Norman Finkelstein for his encouragement.