Role of International Organisations in Global Governance and World Peace

Abstract

{The world is a much better place with peace and cooperation. International organisations- IGOs like the UN, EU etc. and NGOs like Greenpeace have played and are playing a pivotal role in this respect. This necessitates a careful study of the organisations. In this paper I have attempted to trace the history of the history of the organisation. I have focussed on the humanitarian aspects of the organisations and the treaties that govern them since they are very much part of the global politics.

Besides, the cold war treaties that sought to control the arms race between the global powers are important in that the treaties are closely embedded within the peace-making system and the humanitarian organisation. However, the organisations are not without loopholes and therefore the have been subjected to criticism especially by the third world countries. This has been analysed within the proper context of international relations.}

Introduction

Looking back into the medieval ere we can clearly deduce that it was a period of feudalism. Not just in India but across the world feudalism was prevalent. But with the advent of ship & sailing techniques new era of colonialism was waiting at the threshold, which translucently marks the beginning of modern world. World was becoming more and more global. Production was affluent through machines; more trade required more markers and hence slavery started.

There had been much blood shed & human rights violation in this era of transition from feudalistic society to post industrialised society. Trade barrier were falling but prosecution of workers was on rise. All of the above scud situations equality & fraternity. This become the basis of a modern society.

Achieving the desired modern society has to be based on opportunities for all and also requires a world that promotes peace & equality. The world was shook after the just world war which gave rise to the foundation of League of Nations in 1920 following the Paris Peace Conference. Its main task was preventing war through collective security and disarmament.

The failure LONs can be seen in the results of another world war that started in 1939. World War II ended up with a need to establish an “inter government organisation” which will work towards a peaceful world based on mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity so consequently United Nations was established on 24th October 1945.

But United Nations as only one of many such international organisations. Other example like African Union or NATO are also IO, such organisations are established by treaty, and it functions as legal entity.

International organisations are almost important in the political climate of globalisation & global citizenship. Such organisations helps Political dispute redressal, seek alternative resolutions, establish bilateral trilateral treaties. They also act as guardian of internal peace & security.

How exactly does these organisations help can be understood by unpretending and working their structure and functioning which we will be looking at one by one. The oldest IGO is International Telecommunication union founded in 1865.

This article tries to highlight the main elements that define the current role of international organisations in global governance, change in paradigm and the concept of legitimacy in international organizations.

The second part of the article presents some elements of defining the international organizations, a brief history of international organizations and paradigmatic role of international organization in current globalized world.

Regional Organisations

European Union

European union got fully established as a free market after the Maastricht Treaty but its foundation was started in 1946 with Winston Churchill’s call for “United states of Europe”. Europe was war stricken & Marshall plan was re-building Europe. The war & a desire of integration against the nationalism of Nazi Germany resulted into the integration aspirations of Europe.

It helped dilute the war mongering. Robert Shuman in 1950 proposed coal & steel industries for Italy, France, W. Germany & Benelux countries, this resource sharing led to lesser conflicts due economic interests. It led to the creation of European coal & steel community (ECSC) by the Treaty of Paris (1951).

In the Course of the Time Following Events Led to Fully Established European Market

• Spaak committee- Venice conference (1956)
• Merger Treaty (1965)
• Customs Union 1969
• European currency unit 1979
• Schengen Agreement 1985
• Single European Act 1986
• Maastricht Treaty 1993

African Union

Organisation of African Unity (UAO) preceded African Union was established in 1963 and disbanded in 2002. After Site Declaration it was replaced by African Union. Today it 55 members. It promotes unity & security for betterment of political and economic prospects. One of most important aim of it was the eradication of colonialism.

Other Aims

• Defend sovereignty
• Establish & promote international corporation
• Encourage sustainable development
• Eradication of preventable diseases

It was central to end colonialism and minority rule in Africa. It provided aids & facilitates the independence war for many African nations.

Major Contributions and Movements

• Fighting Apartheid – African National Conference (ANC)
• Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC)
• Independence of South Rhodesia – Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU)
• Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU)

Development and Cooperation Initiatives

Programme / Charter	Year	Purpose
Logos Plan of Action	1980s	For development & cooperation among African countries
African Charter & Human and People’s Rights	1981	Nairobi
Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic Recovery (APPER)	1985	Economic recovery

ASEAN

Association for South East Asian Nations signed on 8th August 1967 has 10 members. India is sectoral dialogue partner since 1992 & full dialogue partner in 1996.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

(RCEP) Regional compressive economic partnership has sin dialogue partner – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Koreas launched in 2012. When signed it would be world’s biggest free trade pact. A total of 16 states accounts for 3.5 billion people a GDP of $50 trillion.

Primary Aim

Its primary aim is economic growth & social progress by keeping the region peaceful through mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty.

Security and Political Initiatives

• Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) – 1971
• Asean Security Community (ASC) – Political & security principles of regional stability
• Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South East Asia 1976 – Mutual respect of sovereignty & non-interference
• ASEAN Declaration on South China Sea, Manila – 1992

ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)

ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1994 – Security & interdependence. Developing preventing diplomacy. It includes North & South Korea, Mongolia & sin dialogue partners.

United Nations

United Nations is the biggest intergovernmental organisation working world wide with 193 member states. It was established on 24th October 1945. It can be said that World War II led to the formation of it, also the failure of League of Nations. The seeds of it were sowed in by Franklin Roosevelt and the Atlantic Charter 14 August 1941.

1 January 1942, “Declaration by United Nation” was signed by twenty-sin allied nations, it was the first time the term “United” was used. At Yalta Conference of 1945 Stalin, Roosevelt & Churchill resolved to establish a general international organization to maintain peace & security. So, to ensure peace and security, environmental hazard control, human rights violations United Nations over see through various treaties, international laws, research institution, independent commissions etc.

Organs of the United Nations

United Nations works across the world through various organs:

Article 7(1)

• General Assembly
• Security Council
• International Court of Justice
• Economic and Social Council
• Trusteeship Council
• Secretariat

Article 7(2)

• Standing Committees
• Ad-Hoc Committees
• Sanctions Committees
• Working Groups
• Counter Terrorism Bodies

Special Agencies of UN

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
• World Health Organization (WHO)

“Danger gathers upon our path. We cannot afford – we have no right – to look back. We must look forward… The stronger the advocate of monarchical principle a man may be, the more zealously he must now endeavor to fortify the Throne and to give to His Majesty’s successor that strength which can only come from the love of a united nation and Empire.”
– Winston Churchill

WHO

WHO constitution stats its objective “is the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health”. It was established in 1948. It has headquarters across the 6 continents. It basically provides leadership in the matters critical to health. Sharing of research and setting norms and standards and promoting & monitoring their implementations. It also provides technical support and promotes institutional capacity.

WHO assimilates with various agencies and help them tackle the diseases with compressive technical assistance. It collaborated with “UNESCO” and helps towards immunization of six communicable diseases in children:

• Measles
• Tetanus
• Diphtheria
• Polio Myelitis
• Whooping Cough
• Tuberculosis

In the earlier periods it worked on infectious diseases – malaria, yaws, tuberculosis & venereal diseases. During the 60’s WHO collaborated with Red Cross and provided around 200 physicians in the newly independent Congo. In 1967 WHO, worked in India to eradicate small pox fought against polio eradication initiative. WHO & UNICEF helped India in Polio campaign in 2012. In 2014 India was declared polio free.

Disarmament and Arms Control

Since World War II many developments have taken place in the race of arms accumulation, these are discussed below:

Initiative	Year	Description
The Four Power Declaration	1945	China, USSR, USA, Britain declared on agreement for regulation of armament after WW-II
Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC)	1946	Deal with the new emerged problem of atomic energy. To control the exchange of atomic energy for peaceful considerations only.
Commission on Conventional Armaments	1947	Established to limit the expansion of non-nuclear armaments.
United Nations Disarmament Commission	1952	Created for global disarmament efforts.
Atoms for Peace	1957	It lead to the formation of inter-nation atomic energy agency.

Arms Control Agreements

Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) – 1963

Reduced the danger of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests in the atmosphere.

Outer Space Treaty – 1967

Prohibits placing objects into Earth’s orbit that carry nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction. Fortification, installations, and military bases are restricted on celestial bodies.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – 1968

India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea are not signatories.

Sea Bed Treaty – 1971

USSR and USA – Not to implant on the sea bed any nuclear weapon and also prohibits structures and launching installations.

Biological Weapons Convention – 1972

Prohibition of development, production, and stocking of bacteriological and toxin weapons.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) – 1971

Stopped the number of strategic ballistic missile launches. It allowed for new submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) after the equal number of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and SLBM launches had been dismantled.

Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) – 1974

Limitations of underground nuclear weapon tests by USA and USSR.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) – 1987

USA and USSR – Elimination of their intermediate and short-range missiles. This treaty has been recently broken by USA accusing Russia of not abiding by the norms of it and having conducted these tests in disguise.

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) – 1996

It bans all nuclear explosions in all environments for military or civilian purposes. India, Pakistan, and North Korea did not sign it. North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003 and tested in 2006.

Human Rights

Preamble of UN Charter – 1945

“We the people of United Nations, determined… to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of human persons, in the equal rights of man and woman and of nations large and small… have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”

Peace Keeping

The organisations basically help countries in conflict of war or escalating tensions. In 1948 the Security Council allowed the establishment of UN military for observations in the Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Currently 15 peacekeeping operations are ongoing even today.

“Peacekeeping” as a term is not found in the UN Charter. The cost sharing of UN peacekeeping operations is shared by the United Nations. The General Assembly allocates the expense based on the economic wealth of the country. Permanent members of the Security Council pay larger amounts.

• It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998.
• Successful operations: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Liberia.
• Failed operations: Somalia, Rwanda (1994), massacre of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995).

Counter Terrorism

In 1994 UNGA condemned all acts, methods, and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable.

Resolution 1373 under Chapter 7 of the UN in 2001 resolved to impose obligations on the member states including:

• Efforts to prevent and suppress financing of terrorist acts.
• To criminalize such acts.

Some Regional Efforts

• Arab Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (1998)
• Convention of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on Combating International Terrorism (1999)
• European Convention on Suppression of Terrorism (1977)
• SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism (1987)

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – 1989

Established on the initiative of G7 countries to counter money laundering and terror financing.

Criticism

Intergovernmental Organisation, proceeded treatise, commissions, reports are often criticised around the world. It is mostly criticised for being biased towards first world nations and economically well-established nations. Mightier the country in terms of militarisation the more power it possess in international arena. The negotiations are heavily biased sometimes. World Bank & IMF are also put into suspicion for favouring well off countries and being criticised to capitalise on the newly emerging nations.

• Security council of UNO is obviously represented by only 5 nations.
• International court of justice have lesser representation for Asia holding 60% of world population.
• The western influence can be seen and understand through the influencing power of money contribution to UNO.

Peacekeeping and Power Politics

The Peacekeeping options have been criticised for serval assault of civilians. It jailed to curb many massacre happening around the world, most recently in South Sudan. Post the falling out of USSR, United states of America came out as sole power in the world. I violated and went against UN invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.

Collective Security Challenges

The concept of Collective Security seems a for fetched dream because of irregular and disproportioned contribution of money & military did for it. Recently USA withdraw itself from many IGOs like Paris Climate Agreement, UNESCO, Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces. North Korea withdrew from NPT in 2003.

Terrorism and Global Instability

International terrorism is still very rampant and these organisations have failed to stop the terror funding. The decision of Trump administration from Afghanistan also shows a bleak situation of USA against fighting militarist on a foreign land.

Brexit and Political Uncertainty

Brexit came as a shock to the whole world, regarding Brexit the politics in Britain is taking now turns every month.

Conclusion

Despite having various flows and unachievable targets, the utility of a “world government” or “international political bar gainer” can’t be refused. In the growing era of global citizenship and trade web, also fundamentalism and environmental degradation we need a collective collaborative voice that can have some concrete solutions towards a better and prosper world.

Intergovernmental organisations have also achieved so much to maintain the world peace, it can be seen while going through the whole term paper. Resources are limited and man are greedy, so there will always be tension in its distribution, that tension is needed to be dealt with maturity, through diplomacy, talks and negations.

References:

1. Peu Ghosh, International Relations (New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. 2016),512
2. https://www.un.org/en