Chapter 5 | The Global Governance

“Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of
those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the
will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of
government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.” –Frank Herbert

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOTMENT: 3 Hours

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. define global governance;
2. identify the roles and functions of United Nations; and
3. determine the challenges of global governance in the
twenty-first century.
 INTRODUCTION

Global governance is a complex issue. However, this chapter has

only focused on international organizations (IOs) and the United Nations, in
particular. International organizations are highlighted because they are the
most visible symbols of global governance. The United Nations, in particular,
is the closest to a world government. It is the most prominent
intergovernmental organization today [14].

ABSTRACTION

A. Defining Global Governance

There is no one organization that

various states are accountable to.
Moreover, no organization can militarily
compel a state to obey the
predetermined global rules. There is,
however, some regularity in the general
behavior of states. For example, they
more or less states who follow global In 2014, Russia seized Crimea from
navigation routes and, more often than Ukraine in an illegal move that violated the
territorial integrity of the former Soviet
not, respect each other's territorial Republic, and sparked a war that has
displaced nearly 2 million people and
boundaries. Moreover, when they do destroyed the country’s infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justifies
not (like when Russia invaded Crimea the aggression, in part, by asserting that
Crimea is mostly comprised of ethnic
in 2014) it becomes a cause for global
Russians [19].
concern and debate [14].

The fact that states in an international order continue to adhere to certain

global norms means that there is a semblance of world order despite the lack
of a single world government. Global governance refers to the various
intersecting processes that create this order. There are many sources of
global governance. States sign treaties and form organizations, in the
process legislating public international law [14].
B. Defining International Organization

An intergovernmental organization or international governmental

organization (IGO) is an organization composed primarily of sovereign
states (referred to as member states), or of other intergovernmental
organizations. Intergovernmental organizations are often called international
organizations (IOs), although that term may also include international
nongovernmental organization such as international nonprofit organizations
or multinational corporations [5]. When scholars refer to groups like the
United Nations (UN) or institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank, they usually call them international organizations [16].

One major fallacy about international organizations is that they are merely
amalgamations of various state interests. In the 1960s and 1970s, many
scholars believed that international organizations were just venues where the
contradicting, but sometimes intersecting, agendas of countries were
discussed – no more than talk shops. What has become more evident in
recent years, however, is that international organizations can take on lives of
their own. For example, the International Monetary Fund was able to promote
a particular form of economic orthodoxy that stemmed mainly from the beliefs
of its professional economists. International organizations can thus become
influential as independent organizations [14].

International relations scholars Michael N. Barnett and Martha Finnemore

(1999) listed the following powers of international organizations:

Classification

Powers of
International
Organizations
 • Because international organizations can invent and apply
categories, they create powerful global standards. For
Power of example, it is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) that defines what a refugee is. And since
Classification states are required to accept refugees entering their
borders, this power to establish identity has concrete
effects [12].

• This is a broader function related to the first. Various

terms like "security” or “development” need to be well-
defined. States, organizations, and individuals view
international organizations as legitimate sources of
Power to Fix information. As such, the meanings they create have
Meanings effects on various policies. For example, recently, the
United Nations has started to define security as not just
safety from military violence, but also safety from
environmental harm [12].

• Norms are accepted codes of conduct that may not be

strict law, but nevertheless produce regularity in
behavior. International organizations do not only classify
and fix meanings; they also spread their ideas across
the world, thereby establishing global standards. Their
Power to Diffuse
power to diffuse norms stems from the fact that
Norms international organizations are staffed with independent
bureaucracies, who are considered experts in various
fields. For example, World Bank economists come to be
regarded as experts in development and thus carry
some form of authority [14].

Because of these immense powers,

international organizations can be sources of
great good and great harm. They can promote
relevant norms like environmental protection
and human rights. But, like other entrenched
bureaucracies, they can become sealed-off
Joseph E. Stiglitz
(Renowned Economist and Nobel Prize Winner)
communities that fail to challenge their beliefs.
For example, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz (2003)
famously criticized the International Monetary Fund for using a "one-size-fits-
all” approach when its economists made recommendations to developing
countries [14] [20] (i.e. states need to undertake structural adjustment
measures to qualify for development loans).
C. The United Nations

The most prominent international organization in

the contemporary world is the United Nations
(UN). After the collapse of the League of
Nations at the end of World War II, countries that
worried about another global war began to push
for the formation of a more lasting international
league. The result was the creation of the UN.
Although the organization is far from perfect, it
The United Nations (UN) is an
should be emphasized that it has so far achieved intergovernmental organization
that promote international
its primary goal of averting another global war. cooperation [5].
For this reason alone, the UN should be
considered a success [14].

The forerunner of the United

Nations was the League of
Nations, an organization conceived
in similar circumstances during the
first World War, and established in
1919 under the Treaty of Versailles
"to promote international cooperation
and to achieve peace and security."
The League of Nations ceased its
activities after failing to prevent the
Second World War [3].

The main headquarters of the United Nations in New York.

The League of Nations has its origins in the Fourteen Points

speech of President Woodrow Wilson, part of a presentation given
in January 1918 outlining of his ideas for peace after the carnage of
World War I. Wilson envisioned an organization that was charged
with resolving conflicts before they exploded into bloodshed and
Thomas Woodrow Wilson warfare [18].
(28th U.S. President)

The name "United Nations", coined by United States

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was first used in the
Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942,
during the Second World War, when representatives of
26 nations pledged their governments to continue Franklin D. Roosevelt
(32nd U.S. President)
fighting together against the Axis Powers [3].
 Tripartite Pact Powers
The Axis Powers also known as
"Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis" was a
military alliance that fought in World
War II against the Allies [2]. The chief
leaders were Adolf Hitler of Germany,
Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Emperor
Hirohito of Japan [1].
Germany Italy Japan

The United Nations officially came into

existence on 24 October 1945, when the
Charter had been ratified by China,
France, the Soviet Union, the United
Kingdom, the United States and by a
majority of other signatories. United
Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October
each year [3]. The signing of United Nations Charter

The UN is divided into five active organs [14]. All were established in 1945
when the UN was founded [22].

The General Assembly (GA) is UN's “main deliberative policymaking and

representative organ”. According to the UN charter: “decisions on important
questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members,
and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly.
Decisions on other questions are done by simple majority. Annually, the
General Assembly elects a GA President to serve a one-year term of office”
[22]. All member states (currently at 193) have seats in the GA. The
Philippines played a prominent role in the GA's early years when Filipino
diplomat Carlos P. Romulo was elected GA president from 1949-1950 [14].

The United Nations Member States are the 193

sovereign states that are members of the United Nations
(UN) and have equal representation in the UN General
Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental
organization [7].

Carlos P. Romulo
(Former Resident Commissioner of the Philippines)

Although the GA is the most representative organization in the UN, many

commentators consider the Security Council (SC) to be the most powerful.
According to the UN, the SC consists of 15 member states (5 permanent and
10 non-permanent members). The GA elects 10 of these 15 to two-year terms.
The other 5, which are sometimes referred to as the Permanent 5 (P5), are
China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States [14].

China France Russia United Kingdom United States

These states have been permanent members since the founding of the UN,
and cannot be replaced through election. The SC takes the lead in
determining the existence of a threat to the peace or an act of aggression. It
calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle the act by peaceful means and
recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, it
can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorizing the use of force to
maintain or restore international peace and security [22]. Because of these
powers, states that seek to intervene militarily in another state need to obtain
the approval of the SC. With the SC's approval, a military intervention may be
deemed legal. This is an immense power [14].

Much attention has been placed on

the SC's P5 due to their permanent
seats and because each country
holds veto power over the council's
decisions. It only takes
A veto is the power to unilaterally stop an official
action, especially the enactment of legislation. A
veto can be absolute, as for instance in the United
Nations Security Council, whose permanent
members (China, France, Russia, the United
Kingdom, and the United States) can block any
resolution [11].
one veto vote from a P5 member to
stop an SC action dead in its tracks.
In this sense, the SC is heir to the
tradition of “great power” diplomacy
The Metternich System was a series of
meetings among the more powerful European
nations between the Napoleonic War and World
War I. Its objective was to resolve disputes
between European nations [8].

that began with the Metternich or In World War II the chief Allied Powers were the
Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the
Concert of Europe system. It is United States, and China. More generally, the
Allies included all the wartime members of the
especially telling that the P5 United Nations, the signatories to the Declaration
consists of the major Allied Powers of the United Nations [21].

that won World War II [14].

The third UN organ is the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which
is "the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and
recommendations on and environmental issues, as well as the
implementation of internationally agreed development goals.” It serves as the
central mechanism for activities of the UN system and its specialized
agencies in the economic, social and environmental fields, supervising
subsidiary and expert bodies. It is the United Nations’ central platform for
reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development [22]. It
has 54 members elected by the GA for three-year terms [14].

The fourth is the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which is the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace
Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). It is the only one among the principal
organs of UN not located in New York (United States of America) [4]. The task
of the ICJ “is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes
submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions referred to it by
authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies” [22].

The major cases of the court consist of disputes between states that
voluntarily submit themselves to the court for arbitration. The court, as such,
cannot try individuals (international criminal cases are heard by the
International Criminal Court, which is independent of the UN), and its
decisions are only binding when states have explicitly agreed to place
themselves before the court's authority. The SC may enforce the rulings of
the ICJ, but this remains subject to the P5's veto power [14].

Finally, the UN Secretariat consists of the “Secretary-General and tens of

thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work
 of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the organization's other
principal organs” [22].

The Secretary-General is chief administrative officer of the Organization,

appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security
Council for a five-year, renewable term. The UN staff members are recruited
internationally and locally, and work in duty stations and on peacekeeping
missions all around the world [22]. As such, it is the bureaucracy of the UN,
serving as a kind of international civil service. Members of the Secretariat serve
in their capacity as UN employees and not as state representatives [14].

D. Localizing the Material

Filipinos played a significant role in the creation of

human rights arbitration rules in the United Nations.
In the late 1960s, the diplomat Salvador P. Lopez
was the chairman of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights. Lopez and other Filipinos helped
Salvador P. Lopez
(Filipino Writer, Diplomat, and Statesman)
design the system whereby any citizen of any state
may petition the UN to look into human rights violations in a country; that
system exists until today. Human rights, therefore, are not foreign
impositions. They are part of our national heritage [15].

E. Challenges of the United Nations

Given the scope of the UN's activities, it naturally faces numerous challenges.
Chief among these are the limits placed upon its various organs and
programs by the need to respect state sovereignty. The UN is not a world
government, and it functions primarily because of voluntary cooperation from
states. If states refuse to cooperate, the influence of the UN can be severely
circumscribed. For example, the UN Council on Human Rights can send
special rapporteurs to countries where alleged human rights violations are
occurring. If a country does not invite the rapporteur or places conditions on
his/her activities, however, this information-gathering mechanism usually fails
to achieve its goals [14].

However, perhaps the biggest challenge of the United Nations is related to

issues of security. As mentioned, the UN Security Council is tasked with
authorizing international acts of military intervention. Because of the P5's veto
power, it is tough for the council to release a formal resolution, much more
implement it [14].

This became an issue, for example, in the late 1990s

when the United States sought to intervene in the
Kosovo war. Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević
was committing acts of ethnic cleansing against
ethnic Muslim Albanians in the province of Kosovo.
Slobodan Milošević
(Former President of Serbia)
Hundreds and thousands of Albanians were victims
of massacres, mass deportations, and internal displacement [14].

Refugees fleeing from Kosovo Serbian forces on the move in Kosovo

• The Kosovo War was waged in the Serbian province of Kosovo from 1998 to 1999. Ethnic
Albanians living in Kosovo faced the pressure of Serbs fighting for control of the region. Muslim
Albanians were the ethnic majority in Kosovo [17].

• The president of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, refused to recognize the rights of the majority
because Kosovo was an area sacred to the Serbs. He planned to replace Albanian language and
culture with Serbian institutions [17].

• Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo formed the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the early 1990s. The
militant group began attacks on Serbian police and politicians and were engaged in an all-out
uprising by 1998 [17].

• Serbian and Yugoslav forces tried to fight growing KLA support through oppressive tactics and
violence. The government destroyed villages and forced people to leave their homes. They
massacred entire villages. Many people fled their homes [17].

• As the conflict grew worse, international intervention rose. Yugoslav and Serbian forces engaged
in an ethnic cleansing campaign throughout the duration of the war. By the end of May 1999,
1.5 million people had fled their homes. At the time, that constituted approximately 90 percent of
Kosovo’s population [17].

• Diplomatic negotiations between Kosovar and Serbian delegations began in France in 1999, but
Serbian officials refused to cooperate. In response, NATO began a campaign of airstrikes against
Serbian targets, focusing mainly on destroying Serbian government buildings and infrastructure.
The bombings caused further flows of refugees into neighboring countries and the deaths of
several civilians [17].

• In June 1999, NATO and Yugoslavia signed a peace accord to end the Kosovo War. The
Yugoslav government agreed to troop withdrawal and the return of almost one million ethnic
Albanians and half a million general displaced persons [17].
Amid this systematic terror, members
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also
of the North Atlantic Treaty called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an
Organization (NATO), led by the intergovernmental military alliance between 30
North American and European countries.
United States, sought SC authorization NATO constitutes a system of collective
defense whereby its independent member
to intervene in the Kosovo war on states agree to mutual defense in response to
an attack by an external party [10].
humanitarian grounds. China and
Russia, however, threatened to veto
any action, rendering the UN incapable of addressing crisis. In response,
NATO decided to intervene on its own. Though the NATO intervention was
largely a success, it nevertheless, left the UN ineffectual [14].
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