THE UNITED NATIONS
Internationalists like Bentham and Kant imagined the possibility
of a world government, nothing of the sort exists today;There is
no one organization where states are accountable to. No
organization can militarily compel a state to obey predetermined
global rules. There is some regularity in the behavior of states
though; it becomes a global concern when they don't.
Global governance refers to various intersecting
processes that create global order.
There are many sources of global governance--treaties and
charters of organizations.
NGO's though not having formal state power, can lobby
individual states to behave in a certain way.
Transnational corporations can likewise have effects on world
governance.
A transnational corporation is an enterprise that is involved with
the international production of goods or services, foreign
investments, or income and asset management in more than one
country. Transnational corporations share many qualities with
multinational corporations, with the subtle difference being that
multinational corporations consist of a centralized management
structure, whereas transnational corporations generally are
decentralized, with many bases in various countries where the
corporation operates.
Non-Governmental Organizations are organizations which are
independent of government involvement. NGOs are a subgroup
of organizations founded by citizens, which include clubs and
associations that provide services to their members and others.
NGOs are usually nonprofit organizations, and many of them are
active in humanitarianism or the social sciences.
International Organization is an organization established by a
treaty or other instrument governed by international law and
possessing its own international legal personality, such as the
United Nations, the World Health Organization and NATO.
One major fallacies of IO's is that they’re merely amalgamations
of various state interests.
In the 1960s and the 1970s scholars believed IO's are just
talk shops. IO's however can take on lives of their own
Powers of International Organizations
(Micahel N. Barnett, Martha Finnemore)
IO's have the power of classifications; they can invent and apply
categories such as “refugees.”
IO's can fix meanings such as in the concepts of “security” as
referring to safety from military violence as well as from
environmental harm.
IO's have the power to diffuse norms, which are accepted codes
of conduct that may not be strict law, but nevertheless produce
regularity in behavior.
IO powers can be sources of great good like promote human
rights or great harm, such as in the IMF's “one-size-fits-all”
approach when its economists make recommendations to
developing nations.
The UNited Nations
Brief History
idea for the UN, elaborated in declarations signed at the wartime
Allied conferences in Moscow and Tehran in 1943.
US Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt suggested the name "United
Nations" first official use of the term occurred on January 1, 1942
with the Declaration by the United Nations.
• During WW II, the Allies used the term "United Nations" to
refer to their alliance.
• From August to October 1944, representatives of the U.S.,
United Kingdom, France, USSR, and China met to elaborate the
plans at the Dumbarton Oaks Estate in Washington, D.C.
• Those and later talks produced proposals outlining the purposes
of the organization, its membership and organs, as well as
arrangements to maintain international peace and security and
international economic and social cooperation.
• These proposals were discussed and debated by governments
and private citizens worldwide.
• came into existence on October 24, 1945, after the Charter had
been ratified by the five permanent members of the Security
Council - China, France, USSR, UK, and the United States - and by
a majority of the other 46 signatories.
• The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 89 to 2, gave its consent to the
ratification of the UN Charter on July 28, 1945.
• In December 1945, the Senate and the House of
Representatives, by unanimous votes, requested that the UN
make its headquarters in the U.S.
• The offer was accepted, UN headquarters building was
constructed in New York City in 1949 and 1950 beside the East
River on land purchased by an 8.5 million dollar donation from
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
• The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization
tasked with
• maintaining international peace and security,
• developing friendly relations among nations,
• achieving international co-operation, and
• being a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.
• It was established after World War II, with the aim of
preventing future wars, and succeeded the ineffective League of
Nations.
• Its headquarters, which are subject to extraterritoriality, are in
Manhattan, New York City, and it has other main offices in
Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna and The Hague.
• UN HQ officially opened on January 9, 1951. The land is
now considered international territory.
• Under special agreement with the U.S., certain diplomatic
privileges and immunities have been granted, but generally the
laws of New York City, New York State, and the U.S. apply.
CHAPTER II: MEMBERSHIP
Article 3
• The original Members of the United Nations shall be the states
which, having participated in the United Nations Conference on
International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously
signed the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, sign
the present Charter and ratify it in accordance with Article 110.
Article 4
• Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-
loving states which accept the obligations contained in the
present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are
able and willing to carry out these obligations.
• The admission of any such state to membership in the United
Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly
upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
• Currently are 193 members.
Article 5
• A Member of the United Nations against which preventive or
enforcement action has been taken by the Security Council may
be suspended from the exercise of the rights and privileges of
membership by the General Assembly upon the recommendation
of the Security Council. The exercise of these rights and privileges
may be restored by the Security Council.
Article 6
• A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated
the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled
from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the
recommendation of the Security Council.
The official languages of the UN are the six languages that are
used in UN meetings, and in which all official UN documents are
written. In alphabetical order, they are:
• Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic)
• Chinese(Written character: Simplified Chinese)
• English (British English with Oxford spelling)
• French
• Russian
• Spanish
 New proposed languages:
• Bengali
• Hindi
• Malay
• Portuguese
• Swahili
• Turkish
• The General Assembly (GA) is the main deliberative,
policymaking and representative organ of the UN.
• Established in 1945 , the General Assembly occupies a central
position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and
representative organ of the United Nations.
• Comprising all 193 Members of the United Nations, it provides
a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of
international issues covered by the Charter.
• It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting
and the codification of international law.
• Each country has one vote. Some Member States in arrear of
payment may be granted the right to vote.
• The Assembly has adopted its own rules of procedure and
elects its President and 21 Vice-Presidents for each session.
• Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and
security, admission of new members and budgetary matters,
require a two-thirds majority.
• Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.
• The Assembly meets from September to December each year,
and thereafter from January to August, as required.
• The Security Council has primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security.
• It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. Under the
Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to
comply with Council decisions.
• The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence
of a threat to the peace or act of aggression.
• It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful
means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of
settlement.
• In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing
sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or
restore international peace and security.
• The UN Charter established ECOSOC in 1945 as one of the six
main organs of the United Nations.
• The Economic and Social Council is at the heart of the United
Nations system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable
development – economic, social and environmental.
• It is the central platform for fostering debate and innovative
thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating
efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.
• It is also responsible for the follow-up to major UN conferences
and summits.
• The UN assigned to it the task of supervising the administration
of Trust Territories placed under the Trusteeship System.
• The main goals of the System were to promote the
advancement of the inhabitants of Trust Territories and their
progressive development towards self-government or
independence.
• In setting up an International Trusteeship System, the Charter
established the Trusteeship Council as one of the main organs
of the United Nations.
• The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent
members of the Security Council -- China, France, the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• The aims of the Trusteeship System have been fulfilled to the
extent that all Trust Territories have attained self-government or
independence, either as separate States or by joining
neighbouring independent countries.
• Under the Charter, the Trusteeship Council is authorized to
examine and discuss reports from the Administering Authority on
the political, economic, social and educational advancement of
the peoples of Trust Territories and, in consultation with the
Administering Authority, to examine petitions from and
undertake periodic and other special missions to Trust Territories.
• The Trusteeship Council suspended its operations on 1
November 1994, a month after the independence of Palau, the
last remaining United Nations trust territory.
• The International Court of Justice, which has its seat in The
Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
• It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, sharing the
building with the Hague Academy of International Law, a private
centre for the study of international law.
• The ICJ's primary purpose is to adjudicate disputes among
states. The court has heard cases related to war crimes, illegal
state interference, ethnic cleansing, and other issues.
• The ICJ can also be called upon by other UN organs to provide
advisory opinions.
• It is the only organ that is not located in New York.
• The ICJ is composed of 15 judges who serve 9-year terms and
are appointed by the General Assembly; every sitting judge must
be from a different nation.
• The UN Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, assisted
by the Deputy Secretary-General and a staff of international civil
servants worldwide.
• It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by UN
bodies for their meetings.
• It also carries out tasks as directed by the Security Council, the
General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and other
UN bodies.
• The Secretary-General acts as the de facto spokesperson and
leader of the UN. The position is defined in the UN Charter as the
organization's "chief administrative officer“
• Article 99 of the charter states that the Secretary-General can
bring to the Security Council's attention
"any matter which in his opinion may threaten the
maintenance of international peace and security",
• a phrase that Secretaries-General since Trygve Lie have
interpreted as giving the position broad scope for action on the
world stage.
• The office has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of
the UN organization and a diplomat and mediator addressing
disputes between member states and finding consensus to global
issues
• Secretaries-General serve for five-year terms that can be
renewed indefinitely, although none so far has held office for
more than two terms; most have served two terms.
• The Charter provides for the Secretary-General to be appointed
by the General Assembly upon the nomination of the Security
Council.
• Therefore, the selection is subject to the veto of any of the five
permanent members of the Security Council.
• In practice, the Secretary-General cannot be a national of any of
the Permanent Members of the Security Council.
• An accepted practice of regional (continental) rotation has also
been adopted in the selection of successive candidates.
• The ability of candidates to converse in both English and French
is also considered an unofficial qualification for the office.
• Most Secretaries-General are compromise-candidates from
middle powers and with little prior fame.
• High-profile candidates are often touted for the job, but are
almost always rejected as unpalatable to some.
• For instance, figures like Charles de Gaulle, Dwight Eisenhower,
and Sir Anthony Eden were considered for the first Secretary-
General position, but were rejected in favor of the
uncontroversial Norwegian Trygve Lie.
1. Gladwyn Jeb Oct 45-Feb 46, UK
2. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1982-91), Peru
3. Trygve Lie, 1946-1952, Norway
4. Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992-96), Egypt
5. Dag Hammarskjöld (1953-61), Sweden
6. Kofi Annan (1997-2006), Ghana
7. U Thant, (1961-19710, Burma
8. Ban Ki-Moon (2007-2016), South Korea
9. Kurt Waldheim (1972-81), Austria
10. Antonio Guterres (1917-) Portugal
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency
of the United Nations responsible for international public health.
• its main objective is "the attainment by all peoples of the
highest possible level of health.“
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with six semi-
autonomous regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) a specialized agency of the United
Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through
international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture.
has 193 member states and 11 associate members, as well as
partners in the nongovernmental, intergovernmental, and private
sector.headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional
field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global
mandate.
• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
is a UN agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly
displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in
their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a
third country.
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 17,300
staff working in 135 countries.
• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is
responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues
within the United Nations system.
• was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in
Stockholm in June 1972.
• Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and
develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate
change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems,
and green economic development.
• The organization also develops international environmental
agreements, publishes and promotes environmental science and
helps national governments achieve environmental targets.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO)
• is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads
international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and
food security.
• Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to "let there be bread". It
was founded in October 1945.
UNICEF, also known as the United Nations International
Children's Emergency Fund,is a United Nations agency
responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to
children worldwide
UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease
prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers
with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving
sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief
in response to disasters.
• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the
United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency
aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide.
• Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and
protocols, increasing access to birth control, and leading
campaigns against child marriage, gender-based violence,
obstetric fistula, and female genital mutilation.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• is an international organization that seeks to promote the
peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for
any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
• The International LabourOrganization (ILO) is a United Nations
agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice
through setting international labour standards.
• The World Food Programme[a] (WFP) is the food-assistance
branch of the United Nations.
• It is the world's largest humanitarian organization, the largest
one focused on hunger and food security, and the largest
provider of school meals.
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the
United Nations' global development network.
• It promotes technical and investment cooperation among
nations and advocates for change and connects countries to
knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a
better life for themselves.
• The UNDP provides expert advice, training and grants support
to developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance
to the least developed countries.
• UNDP works with nations on their own solutions to global and
national development challenges. As they develop local capacity,
they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners.
• However UNDP offers to help only if the different nations
request it to do so.
• United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a
functional commission within the overall framework of the
United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United
Nations Human Rights Council in 2006.
• It was a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC), and was also assisted in its work by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(UNOHCHR).
• It was the UN's principal mechanism and international forum
concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights.
Global Migration
• Human migration involves the movement of people from one
place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or
temporarily, at a new location or geographic region.
• Internal migration, people moving from one area to another
within one country
• International migration, people cross borders of one country to
another
• Immigrants, moved to another country permanently. Workers
who stay in another country for a fixed period
• Illegal immigrants- Migrants who were “petitioned” by their
families
• Refugees (Asylum seekers) unable or unwilling to return due to
fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,
belonging to a certain group or political persuasion.
• 247 million people are living outside their country of origin
• 90% moved due to economic reasons
• 10% are asylum-seekers•
Top Three Regions of Origin
• Latin America 18%
• Eastern Europe & Central Asia 16%
• Middle East and Africa 14%
Country of Origin
India, Mexico, China, Philippines, Afghanistan
Destination:
US, the West, Middle East
50% of migrants moved from developing countries to
developed world
Contributing 40-80% of their labor force
Their growth outstripped the populations of their host countries
(3% vs 0.6%)
McKinsey Global Institute:
first generation immigrants constitute
13% of population of Western Europe
15% of North America
48% of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries
Majority of migrants remained in cities
92% of migrants in US live in cities
95% in the UK
99% in Australia
 Loss of professionals (doctors) detrimental to home countries
Contribute enormously to productivity of their host country 15% of locally-trained doctors (2006) of
Country Contribution % of GDP 21 Sub-Saharan African countries emigrated to US or Canada
USA $ 2 trillion 11% 43% of Liberian doctors left
UK $390 billion 14% 30% Ghana
Germany $550 billion 17% 20% Uganda
Canada $320 billion 21%
Australia $330 billion 25% Governments continue practice, impact of remittances
Equally “concerned with generating jobs for an under-utilized
Debate: workforce and in getting the maximum inflow of worker
Migrants, assets or liabilities? remittances.”

Anti-immigrants, Nationalist Governments are actively involved in recruitment and

-call for control of legal immigration and a stop to illegal
immigration
-gain influence through leaders who support their cause (Trump,
May etc),
-reversing pro-immigration and refugee-sympathetic policies of
their governments
Trump
-Ban on people from Muslim-majority countries (even those with
proper documentation)
-Promised to build a wall along border with Mexico
Wisdom of these governments belied by data
-Harvard Business School (2011) “likelihood and magnitude of
adverse labor market effects for natives from immigration are
substantially weaker than perceived.”
-The fiscal impact of immigration on social welfare, “very small”
- Government spending in OECD countries (2013) still higher on
native-born citizens than immigrants
Massive inflow of refugees from Syria and Iraq raised alarm
bells but has not proved to be as damaging as expected
- IMF predicted that flow of refugees from Syria and Iraq would
grow Europe’s GDP “modestly”
- Flow of refugees from Middle East to Germany has not affected
welfare programs
- Little impact on wages and employment
- Brought much-needed labor to the economy
Benefits and Detriments for the Sending Countries:
Remittances (2014) $580 billion (10% of value generated by
migrants)
India $70 billion
China $62 billion
Philippines $28 billion
Mexico $25 billion
Made significant contributions to the development of small and
medium-term industries that help generate jobs
Remittances change economic and social standing of migrants,
Homes, access to consumer goods
Purchasing power of migrant families doubles
Send their kids to school
ADB, notes serious concerns on economic sustainability
Do not have significant influence on other key items of
consumption or investment e.g., education and health care
May lift households out of poverty but not rebalancing growth
Brain drain - Migration siphoning qualified personnel,
removing dynamic young workers
McKinsey Global Institute:
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia lost 1/3 of their
graduates
60% of those who moved to OECD countries were
college graduates, compared to 9% of over-all population
in the country
52% of Filipinos moving abroad have tertiary education
compared to 23% of overall Filipino population
deployment of workers abroad (POEA)
Human Trafficking
• FBI lists trafficking as 3rd largest criminal activity worldwide
• ILO (2012), 21 million men, women and children as victims of
“forced labor”
• 3 out of 1000 persons worldwide
• 90% of victims (18.7 million) exploited by private enterprises
and entrepreneurs
• 22% (4.5 million) sexually-abused
• 68% (14.2 million) work under compulsion in agricultural,
manufacturing, infrastructure and domestic activities
• Human trafficking is profitable, earning syndicates, smugglers,
and corrupt state officials profits as high as $150 billion a year
(2014)
• Governments, private sector, civil society groups have worked
together to combat human trafficking yet the results remain
uneven
Integration
• Migrants contribute to GDP but their access to housing, health
care and education not easy
• Migrants from China, India and Western Europe have more
success while those from the Middle East, North Africa and sub-
Saharan Africa face difficulties in securing jobs
• In US and Singapore, white-collar OFWs have been integrated
easier than their blue-collar counter part
Democratic states assimilate immigrants by granting them
citizenship (and the rights that go with it)
- Linguistic difficulty, customs from “old country”, and religion
may create cleavages between immigrants and native-born
citizens
- Native-born citizens accuse immigrants of bringing in the culture
from their home countries, amplifying differences in linguistic and
ethnic customs
Xenophobia, fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of
anything that is strange or foreign
Lack of integration creates xenophobic and anti-immigrant
groups more reason to reject anything foreign
Migrants unwittingly reinforce the tension by
“keeping among themselves.”
Anxiety of first-time migrants of coming into a new and “strange”
place is mitigated by “local networks of fellow citizens” that serve
as the migrant’s safety net from dislocation
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of California (find
work, set up businesses).
Networks exacerbate differences and discrimination instead of
facilitation integration
• Government/businesses made policy changes e.g. use of
multiple languages in state documents
• Training programs, counselling also helped migrant integration
• Whether these will succeed or not remains an open question.