New opportunities for the UN

Hazel Henderson, Author, 'Beyond Globalization', St. Augustine, Florida, U.S.A., Inter Press Service

The Iraq debacle provides a historic opportunity to implement long-sought and widely-supported reform of the UN to assure its independence and its vital role in this new century.

The breakdown in the Security Council over the US war on Iraq clearly illustrated its obsolete and dysfunctional aspects. Its composition, with five permanent members (the US, Britain, France, China and Russia) with veto power, is an anachronism left over from the post-World War II era.

Most reformers agree on the indispensability of the Security Council -- and on the shape and direction of needed reforms. The Council needs to finally dispense with the veto. Then the permanent seats can be rearranged to accommodate important new world players, including India, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and newly-democratic Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population.

To keep the Council's size manageable, the seats of Britain and France could be combined into one rotating seat representing the European Union.

Another long-sought security council reform -- more necessary than ever in a world of terrorism and asymmetrical threats -- is a standing UN peace-keeping and humanitarian force, properly trained and ready to meet security threats and natural disasters. Together with Interpol, this professional unit could proactively monitor terrorist groups.

Funding of these functions and all UN humanitarian and development operations need no longer rely only on dues from its member countries. The recalcitrance of the U.S, which still owes the UN over US$500 million in back dues, has shown that new, more reliable sources of funds are needed. A reduction in the level of U.S. dues, with a corresponding reduction in US influence, is also desirable.

The UN, with its minuscule $1.25 billion annual budget (one quarter of New York City's) can tap a wide variety of new financing sources. Many of these are promoted by the increasingly powerful global community of non government organizations and public policy networks, including very small fees (1 percent or less) on the $1.5 trillion of daily currency transactions, which could yield several hundred billion dollars annually, in addition to reducing speculation, which accounts for 90 percent of these transactions.

Even as many of these funding proposals were re-asserted in the UN Financing for Development PrepComs by global NGOs and developing countries of the G-77, they were quietly vetoed by U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte, on orders from the Bush Administration. Today, Bush's popularity is waning rapidly, 54 percent rating his job performance as fair to poor (Reuters- Zogby, Sept. 2003).

Near majorities now repudiate the unilateralist, preemptive strike policies of Bush and his neo-con cabinet. Now the deficit- ridden U.S. economy with its high unemployment level is the key concern of voters. Bush's disastrous policies have led to the return of the Taliban and warlordism in Afghanistan and the deepening quagmire in Iraq.

The world recognizes again that the UN is indispensable. It is the only forum that can convene all the world's nations. Even the BushAdministration, now deeply divided, is seeking UN help, namely "burden sharing" of the costs of its ill-considered adventure in Iraq. Only the UN can legitimize reluctant member nations' involvement in re-building Iraq.

The U.S. president's father, George H.W. Bush, may help his son realize that the UN is never likely to be "irrelevant". Secretary-General Kofi Annan has deftly guided the UN through these latest storms in spite of charges of bending too much to US pressure.

In this era of abundant opportunities to revitalise the UN, new funding sources and renewed global goodwill can expand confidence in the world body.

Even 63 percent of the U.S. public is still solidly behind the UN taking the lead in global security and peacekeeping. Enacting these reforms would be a fitting epitaph to the thousands of Afghans, Iraqis, Liberians and other innocents lost in recent wars, as well as a tribute to all the world's displaced refugees, abused women and hungry children.

There is no shortage of funds in the world -- only misplaced priorities, defunct economic ideologies, and bloated weapons budgets. One quarter of global weapons spending -- together with some of the international taxes on speculators and other abusers of our global commons -- could provide the world with needed public goods: Peace-keeping, health and education for all, cleaner air and water, environmental restoration, and millions of new jobs and livelihoods.