(1998)
|
When Shirdath Ramphal handed over the IUCN gavel to Jay Hair in 1993, he turned his attention to the Commission on Global Governance which he co-chaired along with Ingvar Carlsson, former Prime Minister of Sweden and then-Leader of the Social Democratic Party in Sweden. Like the Commissions of the 1980s (Brandt, Palme, MacBride, and Brundtland) it was an independent commission, meaning that it was not created by a resolution of the UN General Assembly. It operated officially as an NGO but, as a practical matter, it was an instrument of the United Nations. The Commission on Global Governance received the formal endorsement of Butrous-Butrous Ghali, UN Secretary-General, and funding from the United Nations Development Program. Nine nations and several private foundations also supplied funding. Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica was a member of the Commission. Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize for his "peace plan" which called on nations to direct disarmament savings to the UN's development programs. Adele Simmons, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, was a member. Maurice Strong also served on the 28-member Commission. Several of the Commission's ideas were advanced experimentally at the various world conferences during the early 1990s. They tested the waters particularly for the several global taxation ideas, and for their ideas about global governance through civil society. Their final report was released in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in the fall of 1995, entitled Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance. The Commission recommended that: "the General Assembly should agree to hold a World Conference on Governance in 1998, with its decisions to be ratified and put into effect by 2000."103 Hereafter, numbers in parentheses indicate the reference page number in Our Global Neighborhood. The Commission bases its recommendations on the belief that human activities have irreversible environmental impacts and that human activities need to be "managed" to keep the "adverse outcomes within prudent bounds" (p. 11). "Effective and equitable management calls for a systemic, long-term, global approach guided by the principle of sustainable development. Its universal application is a priority among the tasks of global governance" (p. 30). The Commission is convinced that the world is ready to accept "a set of core values that can unite people of all cultural, political, religious, or philosophical backgrounds.... It is fundamentally important that governance should be underpinned by democracy at all levels and ultimately by the rule of enforceable law" (p.48). "Underpinned by democracy" has a totally different meaning to people who live in a socialist democratic nation, than to people who live in a "free" country such as America. Americans think of "democracy" as the process by which they elect the individuals to represent them in their exercise of the limited power that Americans have chosen to give to their government. In socialist nations, "democracy" means participating in the process by which the sovereign government decides how to manage its subjects. The "core values" upon which global governance is to be based include liberty. But again, in America, liberty has a totally different meaning from what the Commission describes. "Liberty is threatened by deprivation, economic dislocation, oppression based on gender or sexual orientation, abuse of children, debt bondage, and other social and economic patterns" (p. 50). Americans realize that these conditions are only some of the inherent risks of being free. Liberty is the freedom to exercise individual ingenuity and apply individual energy to avoid the risks and rise above all other dangers. The very fact that Americans, and others who live in free societies, have risen above these risks, creates an injustice in the world according to the Commission. "Although people are born into widely unequal economic and social circumstances, great disparities in their conditions or life chances are an affront to the human sense of justice.... A concern for equity is not tantamount to an insistence on equality, but it does call for deliberate efforts to reduce gross inequalities... and to promote a fairer sharing of resources" (p. 51). Mutual respect which is defined to be "tolerance," caring - with a global reach - and integrity, which is defined as supporting the program, round out the Commission's core values. Voluntary acceptance of global governance is the preferred means of achieving it. Education programs to teach the "global ethic" have been underway by UNESCO and by UNEP for more than 20 years. That the U.S. government, through its representatives to the various UN agencies, has not already crushed this global governance agenda is a testament to the effectiveness of the UN's education program. But the Commission is not content to rely upon voluntary acceptance. An intricate maze of international, enforceable law is encircling the planet in the form of Conventions, Treaties, and Executive Agreements. To implement, administer, and enforce global governance, the Commission has recommended a major restructuring of the UN system. The Commission recommends an "Assembly of the People" which "should consist of representatives of organizations accredited to the General Assembly as Civil Society Organizations.... A Forum of 300-600 organs of global civil society would be desirable and practicable" (p. 258-259). A new "Petitions Council" is recommended, to consist of five to seven representatives of "civil society," for the purpose of reviewing petitions from NGOs in the field to direct to the appropriate UN agency for enforcement action (p. 260). A new Economic Security Council (ESC) would replace the existing Economic and Social Council. The new ESC would consist of no more than 23 members who would have responsibility for all international financial and development activities. The IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO - virtually all finance and development activities - would be under the authority of this body. There would be no veto power by any nation, nor would there be permanent member status for any nation (p. 266f). The existing Security Council would be restructured. Veto power of the five permanent members would be eliminated, as would permanent member status over time. With the Secretary-General's office expanded to include the function of Commander-in-Chief, the Security Council would oversee a new UN standing army, complete with support and transport car capabilities (p. 100f). The Commission calls for an international convention on curtailment of the arms trade (p. 129), a demilitarization of international society, and disarming of civilians (p. 131). A new International Criminal Court would be created, complete with its own "independent prosecutor or a panel of prosecutors of the highest moral character" (p. 324). The International Court of Justice would become "compulsory" and it would issue binding verdicts in order to "strengthen international law" (p.308f). To protect the environment: "We propose that the Trusteeship Council... be given the mandate of exercising trusteeship over the global commons. The global commons include the atmosphere, outer space, the oceans beyond national jurisdiction, and the related environment and life-support systems that contribute to the support of human life. Its functions would include the administration of environmental treaties in such fields as climate change, biodiversity, outer space and the Law of the Sea. It would refer, as appropriate, any economic or security issues arising from these matters to the Economic Security Council or the Security Council" (p. 251f). The Commission suggests that "the new Council would benefit from contributions from civil society organizations." Of major significance is the expansion of the concept of security: "All people, no less than all states, have a right to a secure existence, and all states have an obligation to protect those rights (p. 84). Where people are subjected to massive suffering and distress, however, there is a need to weigh a state's right to autonomy against its people's right to security (p. 71). We believe a global consensus exists today for a UN response on humanitarian grounds in cases of gross abuse of the security of people" (p. 89). The security of the people is challenged "from threats to the earth's life-support systems, extreme economic deprivation, the proliferation of conventional small arms, the terrorizing of civilian populations by domestic factions, and gross violations of human rights" (p. 79). The Commission believes that the UN should protect the "security of the people" inside the borders of sovereign nations, with or without the invitation of the national government. It proposes the expansion of an NGO "early warning" network to function through the Petitions Council to alert the UN to possible action. It has recommended implementation of the Tobin Tax, and several other taxing schemes (p. 217f). It has called for a world conference in 1998 to present the treaties and other documents necessary to bring about complete global governance by the year 2000. |