INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

1. Need for International Organizations

• The role of international organizations is to set the international agenda, mediate political bargaining, provide a place for political initiatives and act as catalysts for the formation.
• They facilitate cooperation and coordination among member nations.
• International organisations are not the answer to everything, but they are important. International organisations help with matters of war and peace.
• They also help countries cooperate to make better living conditions for us all.
• Countries have conflicts and differences with each other.
• That does not necessarily mean they must go to war to deal with their antagonisms.
• They can, instead, discuss contentious issues and find peaceful solutions; indeed, even though this is rarely noticed, most conflicts and differences are resolved without going to war.
• The role of an international organisation can be important in this context. An international organisation is not a super-state with authority over its members. It is created by and responds to states.
• It comes into being when states agree to its creation. Once created, it can help member states resolve their problems peacefully
• Nations can usually see that there are some things they must do together.
• some issues are so challenging that they can only be dealt with when everyone works together. The disease is an example. Some diseases can only be eradicated if everyone in the world cooperates in inoculating or vaccinating their populations.
• Or take global warming and its effects. As atmospheric temperatures rise because of the spread of certain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), there is a danger that sea levels will also rise, thereby submerging many coastal areas of the world including huge cities.
• An international organisation can help produce information and ideas about how to cooperate. It can provide mechanisms, rules and a bureaucracy, to help members have more confidence that costs will be shared properly, that the benefits will be fairly divided, and that once a member joins an agreement it will honour the terms and conditions of the agreement.

2. Evolution of the UN

• The UN was founded as a successor to the League of Nations. It was established in 1945 immediately after the Second World War.
• The organization was set up through the signing of the United Nations Charter by 51 states. It tried to achieve what the League could not between the two world wars.
• The UN’s objective is to prevent international conflict and to facilitate cooperation among states.
• It was founded with the hope that it would act to stop the conflicts between states from escalating into war and, if war broke out, to limit the extent of hostilities.
• Furthermore, since conflicts often arose from the lack of social and economic development, the UN was intended to bring countries together to improve the prospects of social and economic development all over the world.

3. Branches of United Nations

• The UN consists of many different structures and agencies. War and peace and differences between member states are discussed in the General Assembly as well as the Security Council.
• Social and economic issues are dealt with by many agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), among others.

• Two basic kinds of reforms face the UN: reform of the organisation’s structures and processes; and a review of the issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the organization.
• Almost everyone agrees that both aspects of reform are necessary.
• What they cannot agree on is precisely what is to be done, how it is to be done, and when it is to be done.
• Some countries and experts want the organization to play a greater or more effective role in peace and security missions, while others want its role to be confined to development and humanitarian work (health, education, environment, population control, human rights, gender and social justice).

5. Prominent International Institutions

5.1. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• At the international level, overseas financial institutions and regulations.
• It consists of 180 members. Out of them, G-8 members enjoy more powers i.e. the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada and Russia except China and Saudi Arabia.
• The US alone enjoys 16.75% voting rights.

5.2. World Bank

• It was created in 1944.
• It works for human development, agriculture and rural development, environmental protection, infrastructure and governance and provides loans and grants to developing countries.
• It is criticised for setting the economic agenda of poorer nations, attaching stringent conditions to its loans and forcing free-market reforms.

5.3. World Trade Organization

• An international organisation to set the rules for global trade which was set up in 1995 as a successor to General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and has 157 members. (as of 1 September 2012)
• Major economic powers such as the US, EU and Japan have managed to use the WTO to frame rules of trade to advance their interests.
• The developing countries often complain of non-transparent procedures and being pushed around by big powers.

5.4. IAEA-International Atomic Energy Agency

• It was established in 1957 to implement US President Dwight Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" proposal.
• It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to prevent its use for military purposes.
• IAEA teams regularly inspect nuclear facilities all over the world to ensure that civilian reactors are not being used for military purposes.

5.5. Amnesty International

• An NGO to campaign for the protection of human rights all over the world.
• It prepares and publishes reports on human rights to research and advocate human rights. 4 / 4
• Governments are not always happy with these reports since a major focus of Amnesty is the misconduct of government authorities.

5.6. Human Rights Watch

• Another international NGO involved in research and advocacy of human rights.
• The largest international human rights organization in the US.
• It draws the global media's attention to human rights abuses.
• It helped in building international coalitions like the campaigns to ban landmines, stop the use of child soldiers and establish the International Criminal Court.

6. Prominent Happenings across the world after the formation of the UN

• The Soviet Union collapsed.
• The US becomes the strongest power.
• The relationship between Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union, and the US results in being much more cooperative.
• China has emerged as a great power, and India also is growing rapidly.
• The economies of Asia grow at an unprecedented rate.
• Many new countries join the UN after gaining independence from the Soviet Union or former communist states in Eastern Europe.
• A whole new set of challenges confronts the world (genocide, civil war, ethnic conflict, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change, environmental degradation, epidemics).

• In 1992, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution.
• The resolution reflected three main complaints:
  • The Security Council no longer represents contemporary political realities.
  • Its decisions reflect only Western values and interests and are dominated by a few powers.
  • It lacks equitable representation.
• Given these growing demands for the restructuring of the UN, on 1 January 1997, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan initiated an inquiry into how the UN should be reformed.
• A related issue was to change the nature of membership altogether.
• Some insisted, for instance, that the veto power of the five permanent members be abolished. Many perceived the veto to conflict with the concept of democracy and sovereign equality in the UN and thought that the veto was no longer right or relevant.
• In the Security Council, there are five permanent members and ten non-permanent members.
• The Charter gave the permanent members a privileged position to bring about stability in the world after the Second World War.
• The main privileges of the five permanent members are permanency and veto power.
• The non-permanent members serve for only two years at a time and give way after that period to newly elected members.
• A country cannot be re-elected immediately after completing a term of two years.
• The non-permanent members are elected in a manner so that they represent all continents of the world.
• While there has been a move to abolish or modify the veto system, there is also a realization that the permanent members are unlikely to agree to such a reform.
• Also, the world may not be ready for such a radical step even though the Cold War is over.

8. Jurisdiction of UN

• In September 2005, a meeting was held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations and to review the situation.
• The leaders in this meeting decided on some steps that should be taken to make the UN more relevant by creating peace-building commissions, a human rights council, an agreement to achieve Millennium Development Goals, condemnation of terrorism, creation of a democracy fund and an agreement to wind up Trusteeship Council.

9. India and the UN Reforms

• India has supported the restructuring of the UN on several grounds.
• It believes that a strengthened and revitalized UN is desirable in a changing world.
• India also supports an enhanced role for the UN in promoting development and cooperation among states. India believes that development should be central to the UN’s agenda as it is a vital precondition for the maintenance of international peace and security.
• One of India’s major concerns has been the composition of the Security Council, which has remained largely static while the UN General Assembly membership has expanded considerably.
• India considers that this has harmed the representative character of the Security Council.
• It also argues that an expanded Council, with more representation, will enjoy greater support in the world community.
• India supports an increase in the number of both permanent and non-permanent members.
• Its representatives have argued that the activities of the Security Council have greatly expanded in the past few years.
• The success of the Security Council’s actions depends upon the political support of the international community.
• Any plan for restructuring of the Security Council should, therefore, be broad-based. For example, the Security Council should have more developing countries in it.

10. Why India Aims For Permanent Membership 

• India is the second most populous country in the world comprising almost one-fifth of the world population.
• Moreover, India is also the world’s largest democracy. India has participated in virtually all of the initiatives of the UN. Its role in the UN’s peacekeeping efforts is a long and substantial one.
• The country’s economic emergence on the world stage is another factor that perhaps justifies India’s claim to a permanent seat in the Security Council.
• India has also made regular financial contributions to the UN and never faltered on its payments.
• India is aware that permanent membership of the Security Council also has symbolic importance.
• It signifies a country’s growing importance in world affairs.
• This greater status is an advantage to a country in the conduct of its foreign policy: the reputation for being powerful makes you more influential.

10.1. World Opinion on India's Inclusion as Permanent 

• Despite India’s wish to be a permanent veto-wielding member of the UN, some countries question its inclusion.
• Neighboring Pakistan, with which India has troubled relations, is not the only country that is reluctant to see India become a permanent veto member of the Security Council.
• Some countries, for instance, are concerned about India’s nuclear weapons capabilities.
• Others think that its difficulties with Pakistan will make India ineffective as a permanent member.
• Yet others feel that if India is included, then other emerging powers will have to be accommodated such as Brazil, Germany, Japan, and perhaps even South Africa, whom they oppose.
• some feel that Africa and South America must be represented in any expansion of the permanent membership since those are the only continents not to have representation in the present structure.
• Given these concerns, it may not be very easy for India or anyone else to become a permanent member of the UN shortly.

10.2. The UN in a Unipolar World 

• Among the concerns about the reform and restructuring of the UN has been the hope of some countries that changes could help the UN cope better with a unipolar world in which the US was the most powerful country without any serious rivals
• US power cannot be easily checked. First of all, with the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the US stands as the only superpower
• Secondly, within the UN, the influence of the US is considerable.
• As the single largest contributor to the UN, the US has unmatched financial power.
• The fact that the UN is physically located within the US territory gives Washington additional sources of influence.
• The US also has many nationals in the UN bureaucracy.
• In addition, with its veto power the US can stop any moves that it finds annoying or damaging to its interests or the interests of its friends and allies. The power of the US and its veto within the organization also ensures that Washington has a considerable degree of say in the choice of the Secretary General of the UN. The US can and does use this power to “split” the rest of the world and to reduce opposition to its policies.
• The UN is not therefore a great balance to the US.
• Nevertheless, in a unipolar world in which the US is dominant, the UN can and has served to bring the US and the rest of the world into discussions over various issues. US leaders, despite their frequent criticism of the UN, do see the organization as serving a purpose in bringing together over 190 nations in dealing with conflict and social and economic development.
• As for the rest of the world, the UN provides an arena in which it is possible to modify US attitudes and policies.