UN must democratize itself, say experts
UN must democratize itself, say experts
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The United Nations (UN) must democratize itself and relinquish
security roles to regional security arrangements if it wants to
stay relevant, an analyst says.
Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) said here on Friday that the UN, especially its
Security Council, has to reform and get rid of veto rights
currently enjoyed by five founding nations.
"The global politics have changed. There are non-traditional
issues that cannot be addressed by the UN, so it should start to
strengthen regional security cooperation," Kusnanto told The
Jakarta Post on Friday.
Meanwhile, senior analyst Soedjati Djiwandono said that the UN
had served as a "playing ground" for the five permanent members
of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) -- the United
States, Britain, Russia, France and China, which have veto
rights.
This situation, according to Soedjati, reflects real global
politics, where superpowers determine war and peace in the
universe.
Small countries, according to Soedjati, have never and will
never play any major role in deciding the world's peace or war.
"Reforms of the United Nations Security Council should aim at
shifting the world body back to its original purpose. It will be
better for the UN to concentrate more on social and economic
fields," Soedjati said.
Both Kusnanto and Soedjati were asked to comment on the
presence of the world body in conjunction with United Nations Day
which falls on Oct. 24.
Kusnanto stressed that although the world was no longer
suffering from wars between countries, it is confronted with
separatism, terrorism and other transnational crimes that would
better be solved by regional cooperations.
"With the delegation of power, permanent members of the UNSC
will no longer solely determine the world's peace," Kusnanto
said.
He further pointed out that despite jargon on dialog,
democracy etc. the UN serves as a symbol that confirms the
perception that the mighty is the winner.
"The five permanent members were the winners of World War II
and now they own the most powerful nuclear weapons. This proves
that the use of force is the main factor in the UN," Kusnanto
said.
"Such authority, to send peacekeeping forces or solve the
internal conflicts of one country should be the job of regional
security arrangements," said Kusnanto, apparently referring to
the invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq by the United States
and its allies.
The U.S. and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 on the
grounds that it had harbored the principal suspect of the New
York and Washington terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 that
killed more than 3,000 people.
The U.S. attacked Iraq in March 2003 on the suspicion that the
country, then under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, was
developing weapons of mass destruction.
Kusnanto said that the UN should maintain its duties as a
moral force in the world, with the power to impose sanctions on
member countries.
"The rest of the technical security arrangements should be in
the hands of regional security organizations," Kusnanto said
without elaboration.
The world organization was established 58 years ago, under the
initiative of the five war winners, with the aim of preventing
similar world wars in the future.
However, since the cold war ended in 1989, marked by the fall
of the former Soviet Union, the UN lost its relevance, with the
U.S., the only superpower, often going it alone without the world
body.
The U.S.'s "going-it-alone" policy was clearly displayed when
the country decided to attack Afghanistan and Iraq despite
opposition from the UN.
Indonesia has campaigned on the importance of revitalizing the
UN and reforming UNSC, especially the elimination of the veto
rights of the five permanent members.