The World Today

August & September 2005: August/September 2005

All too frequently the cry of ‘something must be done’ is heard in reaction to an outrage or atrocity. But would it be easier to ‘do something’ and prevent the Rwandas or Kosovos, if clear principles were established? And is such a development likely in the UN reform process?

Articles

Europeans may be forgiven for thinking the United Nations just does not matter to Americans. Even political leaders on the side of American politics that supposedly guards the internationalist ﬂame describe it as just one more wrench in the toolkit of American diplomacy.

The United Nations Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security, in accordance with the organisation’s principles and purposes. The Council has ﬁfteen members – ten elected for two year terms and ﬁve permanent members – essentially the ﬁve major powers at the end of the Second World War. Each of the permanent members, China, France, Russia, Britain and the US, has the power to veto ‘substantive’ decisions. The case for reform has been made for decades. When the UN charter was signed in 1945, there were only 51 member states.

The United Nations’ sixtieth anniversary celebrations will centre on reform and a major review of progress towards the targets set in the Millennium Declaration, adopted by world leaders in 2000. Questions such as whether Japan, Brazil or India will become permanent members of the Security Council are likely to make the headlines, but the ﬁght against poverty is also claiming a place at the top of the international negotiating table. Initiatives such as the International Finance Facility proposed by British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in support of the Millennium Development Goals have helped provide political momentum.

The High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Changes, which reported to the UN Secretary-General, Koﬁ Annan, in March on strengthening the collective security system, recommended the creation of a new UN body, the Peacebuilding Commission. This is one of the few reform proposals which has had almost universal approval, and looks set to be implemented. Many issues still need to be addressed, like the lack of an early warning capability, how to improve faltering UN coordination and where the funds would come from.

Review of The Turbulent Decade: Confronting the Refugee Crisis of the 1990s, by Sadako Ogato, Published by WW Norton.

Also in this issue

What makes a state and, perhaps more important, what deﬁnes failure? An index of state effectiveness might help to trigger timely assistance, and identify when intervention is necessary. The pressing need is for a new approach to state-building.

As the London bombings in July have cruelly reminded us, global terrorism sets or exacerbates a number of political dilemmas for any democratic state.

As London recovers from the terror attacks of July 7, there is a reminder that two south Asian countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – have been frontline states in America’s ‘war’ on terrorism since Al Qaeda assaulted New York on September 11 2001.

Afghanistan is at a turning point. The defeat of the Taliban in late 2001 was widely welcomed, but now there are signs of resurgence. The democracy project got a big boost from the successful presidential election last year but Afghans are anxious about the parliamentary poll they are about to take part in. With an economy dominated by the drugs trade and far too few trained professionals, there is a worrying lack of optimism.

The dust has settled, for now anyway, in the Uzbek city of Andijan. International attention has shifted to more pressing issues and apart from the small number of refugees remaining in Kyrgyzstan, the episode has dropped off the radar. However, the violent events in mid-May raise profound questions for regional and international security.

Potential threats from new illnesses which might mutate from animal viruses could be as disabling as terrorism. With the international movement of people and products, no nation can afford to be complacent.

When French president, Jacques Chirac, visited Beijing last October, a spectacular air show over the Chinese capital was to mark the beginning of China’s French culture year. To the embarrassment of ofﬁcials, however, heavy smog grounded the French Air Force’s famed aerobatics team. With only three years to go before it hosts the 2008 Olympics, it seemed that Beijing still has a long way to go to present a clean and fresh image to the world.

Egypt will hold its ﬁrst multi-candidate presidential elections in September. Expectations for some degree of political plurality were raised when President Hosni Mubarak announced in February that the constitution would be amended to allow an electoral contest. Following fears that Mubarak was grooming his son Gamal to inherit the presidency, this announcement was seen as a major move towards opening up the political system, which has been dominated by one party rule since 1952.

Iraq has reached a critical point in its return to democratic government. A new constitution must soon be agreed to allow elections by the end of the year. Ethnic and religious divisions could still stand in the way and provoke a crisis.