Many changes have occurred over the decades since the UN was founded. We need to name these changes, some of which are systemic.
For one, many new states were formed through the decolonization process and the collapse of the Soviet Union. They joined the UN, but did they truly subscribe to the spirit of the UN Charter?
Today many politicians are against diplomatic negotiations and reaching agreements with diplomatic means. They want to make deals with good returns on maintaining power and they want to obtain or secure economic wealth. Creating a stable public administration to provide services for the common good is out. Relying on private wealth and services is in. Internationally seeking common ground or establishing mutual interest/benefit is out, and consequently the alignment of human and financial resources with such agreed common interests is equally out. Instead trade balances and forcing agreement through threats and arm-twisting is in. Pre-emptive military strikes as a means of perceived threats to self-defence are in, careful analysis of the historic roots of conflicts is out. Most politicians are not even interested in understanding the past. They use historic facts selectively to justify their power politics and their political plans. Strength and hard power are in, ethics and moral commitment to peace and human wellbeing are out. In short, commercial, and business thinking and behaviour is the primary rule of the game, competition and not cooperation is promoted.
Many people, including young people, are interested in maintaining diplomacy, but they do not want to work in diplomatic services. They pursue careers in business, the CSO world or the media/cultural field.
Faced with these changes, can we revive the spirit of the UN Charter? If so, how? Can the Charter be made the guide for international and national politics? Will that bridge the divide between the world of the UN and the world where Realpolitik, i.e. power politics dominate?
Those who negotiated the UN Charter, adopted it, and founded the UN organization were masters at reaching compromises across ideological divides, and they were masters in swaying public opinion in favour of the UN and their philosophy. On both scores today we lack political leadership. There is no FDR or Truman in sight! But without these two elements, political compromise and a supportive public opinion, we will not succeed in making wars a political instrument of the past. And yet, that is what the UN was founded for, and 193 states subscribed to as they became members.
Therefore, let us campaign to make the UN Charter the constitutional framework for international actions and performance by member states. Let us make the Charter a living document and amend it. Let us elect a Secretary-General who can speak to any politician. Let us make the UN the forum and the conduit which allows people to speak to each other, even when bilateral channels of communication have broken down.
The UN is not a world government, it has no higher authority than to respect the sovereign rights of its members. But the UN has a moral imperative: it is to serve the peoples of the world, and not only their governments. Hence: Let us make the UN an organisation which keeps each one of its members on the straight and narrow towards peace, stability and general human and planetary welfare. Governments remain responsible for achieving these goals, but we, the peoples, need to hold governments accountable for their actions irrespective of domestic governance systems/regimes.
We all are to make our contribution. I think that is what the Charter is demanding of us.
Dr. Kerstin Leitner served with UNDP for 28 years. Among other functions, she was Resident Coordinator in Malawi and China. After her UNDP service, she was for 2 years Assistant Director-General at WHO, Geneva, in charge of Health and Environment. She retired from this post in 2005 and now lives in Berlin, Germany.
