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United Nations reform is hopeless and can only be seen step by step

2022-09-20T12:14:31.461Z


The general debate of the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations will be held at its headquarters in New York on the 20th. A total of nearly 150 leaders will speak. It is also the first time since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.


The general debate of the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations will be held at its headquarters in New York on the 20th. A total of nearly 150 leaders of various countries will speak. It is also the first time since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic to fully participate in the General Assembly - except for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Volodymyr Zelensky) got more than 100 countries last week to make exceptions not to speak in person.

The Russian-Ukrainian war itself, as well as the food shortages exacerbated by the war, will be the main concerns of the conference.

However, the leaders of China and Russia, which are among the "five permanent members" of the UN Security Council, will not be present, but will be represented by their respective foreign ministers.


The United Nations, born after World War II, has the primary mission of maintaining peace.

The outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war this year has once again made people see the failure of the United Nations system.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is in "great danger".

After the war started at the end of February, Russia used the power of one of its five permanent members to veto the Security Council's resolution demanding that Moscow immediately cease fire and withdraw its troops, further increasing the Western world's dissatisfaction with the veto power of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Whatever one might think about the legitimacy of the Russo-Ukrainian war, such self-referential use of the veto underscores the irrationality of the operation of the UN: the veto of the five permanent members is equivalent to the immunity of the five countries, and they Even doing whatever one wants at the international level is immune to the countermeasures of UN action.

This is true in Ukraine at the moment, and it was also true when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

In April this year, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to strengthen the review of the veto power of the five permanent members, requiring any member of the five permanent members to use the veto power to submit their reasons to the UN General Assembly within 10 days of using the power.

Although this obviously cannot limit the veto power of the five permanent members, and can only exert an invisible diplomatic pressure on it, it also shows the dissatisfaction of UN members with the existing veto power structure.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks to foreign ambassadors in Mosbai before heading to New York.

(AP)

The veto power of the five permanent members of the Security Council largely reflects the international situation after the Allies defeated Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan during World War II.

Its anachronism, not just today.

After World War II, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began, and the Security Council has basically been in a state of inaction for many years.

In terms of the number of UN peacekeeping missions, between 1948 and 1978, only 13 missions were approved, and between 1987 and 2000, when the United States and the Soviet Union thawed, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and the United States dominated the United States, the number immediately rose to more than 40. .

However, with the rise of China and the gradual emergence of a multi-polar world, the UN peacekeeping operation has become increasingly difficult.

From the Syrian civil war to the Ethiopian civil war in recent years, the differences between the five permanent members have also prevented the United Nations from effectively intervening.

After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war this year, the United States also began to take the lead in blowing the horn of reform.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, stated in a speech on September 8 that the United States would advance efforts to reform the United Nations Security Council, stating that "the Security Council should better reflect current global realities and introduce more Geographically diverse viewpoints,” although she did not suggest a specific direction for reform.

However, Greenfield's reform initiatives seem to be mostly aimed at China and Russia. She pointed out in particular that since 2009, the United States has only used the veto four times, while Russia has used it 26 times, of which 12 times involved China.

Guterres was absent from Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in order to attend the UN General Assembly.

(AP)

There are generally three directions for the reform of the UN Security Council.

One is to tighten the scope of the use of the veto power of the five permanent members. For example, France's "pragmatic plan" proposes that the five permanent members jointly promise not to use the veto power on relevant resolutions related to major atrocities.

The second is the initiative of the "Big Four" led by Germany, Japan, India and Brazil. These countries believe that their national strength is strong enough and should become new members of the permanent members.

The third is the proposal of the "Coffee Club" composed of Italy, Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, Canada, etc., arguing that the existing system of the Security Council should undergo more comprehensive reforms, and making more countries permanent members will only make more countries have vetoes. rights, further exacerbating the failure of the United Nations at this moment.

They advocate increasing the number of non-permanent members of the existing 10 Security Council members to strengthen the democratic representation of the Security Council and counter the influence of the five permanent members.

At the same time, most African countries believe that the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council should also be increased to change the fact that African countries are rarely represented.

Since the reform of the United Nations must first be approved by two-thirds of the countries in the General Assembly, two-thirds of the member states, and five permanent members of the Security Council, in addition to the difficulty of the five permanent members unwilling to delegate power, countries have a negative impact on the United Nations. Different assumptions (should the United Nations maintain today's dominant power system, just change the list of powerful powers, or adopt a more equal decision-making mechanism?) It also makes reform an impossible goal.

It is foreseeable that, even if everyone talks about Ukraine and the food issue at the UN General Assembly this year, the actual results can only be a castle in the air.

An opinion piece by the US political news website POLITICO pointed out that the official activities of the UN General Assembly have now become a "scenario" of the UN General Assembly. Instead, the activities around the UN General Assembly are more important than the official activities, such as Bill and Melin Goalkeepers 2022, organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on September 20-21, and more.

However, this does not mean that the United Nations' brand name has no real value.

In some projects that are not so politically controversial, the United Nations has actually achieved considerable political achievements in the past year, such as facilitating a ceasefire in Yemen; maintaining humanitarian relief missions in Afghanistan under international independence and sanctions; working with Turkey to promote the Russian-Ukrainian Black Sea food exit channel, etc.

At a time when the veto power system of the five permanent members is difficult to change, the United Nations can only walk by and prove its value in an increasingly limited space.

A list of key issues such as the Russian-Ukrainian war and the food crisis will start on the 20th at the UN General Assembly Wang Yi Attends the UN General Assembly Meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Nicaragua and Cuba Ukraine | Zelensky will speak at the UN General Assembly in a video format

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-09-20

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