Publication: C.D. Howe Institute Commentary
Publication Date: 01-JUN-05
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Sikorski, Radek

Article Excerpt
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In an age of U.S. hegemony and the global ascendancy of democracy, the United Nations can best be reformed by a nascent caucus of democracies acting in concert. To that end, Canada can promote more effective multilateralism through increased support of the 100-country UN Community of Democracies.

The Study in Brief

Because of the overwhelming strength of the United States, less powerful countries often try to offset its influence by working within international institutions, with the United Nations being the forum of choice. Far from coming into its own, however, the UN is in crisis. The organization's inaction in the face of genocide, the antics of its Human Rights Commission and the oil-for-food scandal, have all sapped the UN's authority. Forthcoming arguments over the enlargement of the Security Council and the election of the next Secretary General will do little to restore its reputation. Nor can the UN hope to exercise the influence it aspires to unless it addresses the security concerns of the country that hosts it and pays the largest share of its bills.

Some commentators have argued that coalitions of the willing--that is, groups of countries that share values, threat perceptions and a demonstrated willingness to act--can supersede the useless talking shop that the UN has become. Powerful voices in the U.S. Administration and Congress have argued that the template for the future is the Proliferation Security Initiative--a voluntary, non-bureaucratic agreement among like-minded states to interdict ships that may carry weapons of mass destruction.

However, even empires find more demonstrable legitimacy useful on occasion. One of the reasons the Afghans acquiesced in the presence of foreign troops was the international agreement that sanctioned them. Politicians the world over find it more palatable to engage transnational threats when action is approved by a wider community. The challenge, therefore, is to move the UN from its disappointing state closer to its Kantian ideal.

Arguably, the agent of such evolution could be the Community of Democracies, a group founded in June 2000 in Warsaw by 100 democracies, including Canada. Transcending as it does the UN's notorious system of continental blocs, the Community can influence the organization in limited but sensible ways. It has already proposed the common-sense rule that only countries that are not themselves human rights violators should sit on the UN Human Rights Commission. It could also ensure that the next Secretary General is a genuine democrat and that the UN establishes accountable procedures and meritocratic appointments policies. By more actively supporting the Community of Democracies, Canada would further its own values, while helping to re-engage the United Sates in multilateralism that works.

Responding to the unprecedented power of the United States, countries have sought to influence its behavior through multilateral institutions such as the United Nations. A realization is dawning, however, that the UN must help deal with the grave security concerns of the most powerful country on earth. It also should abandon its Third World ethos and embrace the democratic spirit of the age. Multilateralism can only become effective if the organization recaptures some moral authority. For that to happen, the worst outrages of the UN system, such as its Human Rights Commission, must be tackled. Democratic countries like Canada should more energetically support the fledgling Community of Democracies--a group founded in 2000 in Warsaw by 100 democratic nations--the most promising initiative for reform within the UN today.

For those who craft foreign policy, there is no more important issue than how to respond to the unprecedented military, economic and diplomatic power of the United States. The U.S. enjoys a preponderance of might over other countries in the international arena that is unique in all of history. It is the first truly global empire, extending its influence to all corners of the globe and into outer space. It has an impact upon the domestic economies of every country. Its military power measured in spending surpasses that of all of its major rivals combined (Malone 2003). As the conventional phase of the war in Iraq proved, the U.S. can defeat its enemies on the other side of the globe in a blitzkrieg that claims a small proportion of its resources.

Because of the United States' global position, it is impossible to conceive of a foreign policy that does not take account of U.S. power. This reality is particularly urgent for medium-size powers and especially acute for Canada, where the economy is so integrated with that of the U.S.

No person, and no country, wants to live at the mercy of another. Weaker powers have always tried to devise ways to secure their existence and interests through institutional and political arrangements that constrain the strong. And indeed, it is easy to make the intellectual case for the existence of an international body that can mediate conflicts between states and prevent the strong from tyrannizing the weak. The U.S. itself supported and helped to write the Charter of the United Nations, as well as that of the League of Nations before it. Both were clear expressions of the Wilsonian tradition...



NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from C.D. Howe Institute Commentary
Insuring Canada's exports: the case for reform at export development Canada, 01-DEC-07
Falling poverty rates, rising employment among poor, reflect social policy success: C. D. Howe Institute., 01-OCT-07
Reducing poverty: what has worked, and what should come next, 01-OCT-07

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