GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. define global governance;
2. identify the roles and functions of the united nations;
3. determine the challenges of global governance in the twenty –first century.
This module presents the idea on global governance, the roles of the United Nations and the
strategy for better global governance.
Global governance or world governance is a movement towards political cooperation
among transnational actors, aimed at negotiating responses to problems that affect more than
one state or region. Institutions of global governance—the United Nations, the International
Criminal Court, the World Bank, etc.—tend to have limited or demarcated power to enforce
compliance.
The modern question of world governance exists in the context of globalization and
globalizing regimes of power: politically, economically, and culturally. In response to the
acceleration of worldwide interdependence, both between human societies and between
humankind and the biosphere, the term "global governance" may name the process of
designating laws, rules, or regulations intended for a global scale.
Global governance is not a singular system. There is no "world government" but the many
different regimes of global governance do have commonalities:
Global governance, as its name implies, refers to a way in which global affairs are
managed. There are several reasons which have promoted the idea of global governance.
1. Most important reason is that no single nation has got all the resources to tackle
problems plaguing humanity and this planet - poverty, malnutrition, disease, climate
change, disaster risk, organized crime, terrorism etc. These problems do not recognize
political boundaries and are a risk to us all.
2. Second reason is globalization; with which the world has woven into one fabric where
internal policies of one nation can affect the whole world.
Underlying global governance is tolerance and a willingness to manage differences and
reconcile self/other, us/them and inside/outside. This can take place only where there is a
common set of values, norms, beliefs, ideas, and institutions. As these values evolve, the nature
of global governance has necessarily to change. Indeed, global governance is a broad,
dynamic, complex process that is constantly evolving and responding to changing
circumstances.
Global governance tends to involve institutionalization. These institutions of global
governance - the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the World Bank, etc. - tend to
have limited or demarcated power to enforce compliance.
The Role of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization aiming to maintain
international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international
cooperation, and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and
most familiar international organization. The UN is headquartered on international territory in
New York City, and has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague.
The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future wars,
succeeding the rather ineffective League of Nations. On 25 April 1945, 50 governments met in
San Francisco for a conference and started drafting the UN Charter, which was adopted on 25
June 1945 and took effect on 24 October 1945, when the UN began operations. Pursuant to the
Charter, the organization's objectives include maintaining international peace and security,
protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and
upholding international law. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; with the addition of
South Sudan in 2011, membership is now 193, representing almost all the world's sovereign
states.
As the most representative inter-governmental organization of the world today, the United
Nations' role in world affairs is irreplaceable by any other international or regional organizations.
The United Nations has made enormous positive contributions in maintaining international
peace and security and global order, promoting cooperation among states and international
development. Today, people of the world still face the two major issues of peace and
development. Only by international cooperation can mankind meet the challenges of global and
regional issues.
To strengthen the role of the United Nations, efforts should be made to uphold the purposes
and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The authority of the Security Council in
maintaining international peace and security must be preserved and the role of the United
Nations in the development area should be strengthened. It is essential to ensure to all Member
States of the United Nations the right to equal participation in international affairs and the rights
and interests of the developing countries should be safeguarded.
How does the UN operate?
All U.N. members must comply with Security Council decisions, and the Council sends
peace-keeping forces to restore order when needed. The Council can impose economic
sanctions or an arms embargo to pressure countries that don't comply, and it authorizes the
U.N.'s members to take military action if needed.
Functions and Powers of the UN
Under the United Nations Charter, the functions and powers of the Security Council are:
1. to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and
purposes of the United Nations;
2. to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction;
3. to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement;
4. to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments;
5. to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to
recommend what action should be taken;
6. to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use
of force to prevent or stop aggression;
7. to take military action against an aggressor;
8. to recommend the admission of new Members;
9. to exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations in "strategic areas";
10. to recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-General and,
together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court of Justice.
What should be the strategy for better global governance?
Experience offers three principles:
• Effective, representative national governments are essential for democratizing
global institutions
The international system does not weaken national governments; rather, it relies
on them. Governments must perform well to attract foreign funding. Weak states are
threats to themselves and to global governance. The efficiency of the state is
increasingly threatened where legitimacy is weak (‘rogue states’, semi-authoritarian
regimes, facade democracies), but enhanced where the freedom and effectiveness of
civil society are high. Many regional institutions and agreements (EU, OAS, Mercosur,
EU-ACP, and SADP) now enhance legitimacy through ‘democracy clauses.
• Effective regional governance is needed for infrastructure development and
management of natural resources
The emergence of strong regional governance is often seen as hostile to global
governance. But if they do not restrict trade, effective regional arrangements act as the
building blocks of global governance by facilitating the movement of people,
development of trade and infrastructure, and natural resource management.
• Reforms must be implementable as long as high-income countries largely fund
global
Institutions, these countries must ‘opt in’ if reforms are to be implemented.
Gradual reforms are more likely to succeed since they keep more of the major players
on board
Challenges Facing the Global Governance in the twenty first century:
PROTECTING CIVILIANS
The presence of peacekeeping troops is still no guarantee that civilians will be protected.
Such troops need to be restructured for human security tasks instead of fighting wars. The job
of the military in a human security framework is to protect individuals and create public security
rather than to defeat enemies, while cooperating with development agencies so as to build an
interrelated approach to security.
ESTABLISHING LEGITIMATE POLITICAL AUTHORITY
More emphasis is often placed on stability than on human rights and justice, including
accountability for the commission of war crimes.
PRIORITIZING DEVELOPMENT
Insufficient attention is paid to economic and social development, especially job creation.
Instead, immediate post-conflict priorities tend to focus on humanitarian relief and
macroeconomic stabilization. Civil and political rights are favored over economic and social
rights. Development concerns are usually relegated to the ‘post-recovery’ period.
MAINSTREAMING GENDER
Unequal gender relations are among the conditions that are conducive to conflict. Moreover,
the active role played by women’s groups in peace processes suggests that greater involvement
of women can contribute to improved human security.
FOCUSING ON THE REGIONAL DIMENSIONS OF CONFLICT
Not enough attention is paid to the regional dimensions of conflict. Dealing with the nexus
between corrupt governments, insurgent groups, drugs, minerals or other valuable primary
products and weapons is crucial to dealing with most chronic internal armed conflicts.
AVOIDING A HEAVY ‘FOOTPRINT’
In most conflict countries, one of the parties to the conflict has dominated the various
branches of government and has often been complicit, if not directly responsible for, human
rights violations and other atrocities.
ENSURING SECURITY
The final problem is security. Although there have been numerous attacks on UN Offices,
vehicles, and staff before, the attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad in August2003 was a
watershed in that it was systematic, premeditated and of significant proportion.
The potential threats to peace and security are grouped under six broad headings:
Threats from poverty, disease, and environmental breakdown (the threats to human security
identified in the Millennium Development Goals), threats from conflict between states, threats
from violence and massive human rights violations within states, threats from terrorism, threats
from organized crime, and threats from the proliferation of weapons - particularly WMD, but also
conventional.
Globalization must be reshaped, reformed to allow it to realize its true potential. This requires
a review of interests and ideology, the need for stronger International Public Institutions which
focus on issues of collective action, transparency in decision making, and finally general reform.
However, the most fundamental and crucial change that is required that will enable globalization
to be a force for good, is a change in governance.
"The Central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force
for all the world’s people, instead of leaving billions of them in squalor" - Kofi Annan
(Secretary-General UN)
References:
http://www.china-un.org/eng/zghlhg/zzhgg/t29436.htm
http://www.un.org/en/sc/about/functions.shtml
https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/3171.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations