The U.N., World Bank and International Monetary Fund, created at the end of World War II, today operate on badly outdated political and economic foundations and need to be overhauled before a crisis induced by globalization forces the changes required, a major new study warns.
Prepared by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of U.N. University, with support from the U.N.'s Division for Social Policy and Development and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, the study calls for repeal of the Security Council veto accorded the five major post-war powers in the 1940s and the addition of other countries as permanent members of that body.
"Historical experience suggests that crises are the catalysts of change. The last time around, it was the aftermath of a world war and a worldwide economic depression that led to the foundation of the United Nation systems and the creation of the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and IMF)," according to the study, New Roles and Functions for the U.N. and the Bretton Woods Institutions, edited and co-authored by Deepak Nayyar, Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University, India.
"The world need not wait for another crisis of such proportions to contemplate and introduce the much needed changes in global governance," the study says.
The U.N. suffers from a "democratic deficit" that was "an integral part of the original design" but needs to be remedied now, the study says, adding that the U.N.'s moral authority is "seriously undermined because its laws or principles are enforced selectively when it suits the interests of the rich and the powerful."
Circumventing the veto granted more than 50 years ago to the five permanent Security Council members and enlarging the membership of that body are "imperative" for the U.N.'s continued credibility.
"The process of globalization has given rise to new problems and governance needs," but the U.N. system has yet to adjust, the study says. "The responsiveness of the United Nations to issues of our times has been limited to global meets such as the Earth Summit or the Social Summit," useful fora for public concern but insufficient as solutions to the problems at stake.
It says the U.N. needs to become more representative, fostering the participation of global civil society to a greater degree, and more democratic in its decision-making, involving greater participation, transparency and accountability.
According to the study, the subject of a presentation at the UN May 2, East-West distinctions have dissipated with communism's collapse, while the North and South divide is more diffused, perceptions about development having been brought closer together.
"This represents a sea-change," but reform of the U.N. has stalled as its legitimacy, effectiveness and the credibility erodes. "The unipolar world has eliminated the erstwhile competition between systems," the study says. "As competition has vanished, the urge for cooperation has diminished. This has reduced both the relevance and the role of the United Nations."
Courtesy of Eberhard Wenzel, Griffith University, Australia
