Editorial
UN reform initiative
Panel's blueprint merits consideration
The unveiling of a sweeping package of proposals at the UN headquarters to overhaul the world body should bring the UN reform agenda at the centre-stage of global discourse. The panel set up by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to suggest reform in the backdrop of bitter divisions over Iraq war has come up with a blueprint. Although the package consists of one hundred recommendations, the attention is principally focused on expansion and restructuring of the Security Council and adoption of collective security ethos in place of single country-led intervention.Even the balance of power as an instrumentality for preservation of global peace and security is now suspect in terms of efficacy because détente has basically rendered it outmoded. The cruse of the matter lies in the definitional discord over terrorism. The tatter may be perceived as a threat to security by some countries while the perpetrators themselves might avowedly regard it as a fight for self-determination. It is highly imperative therefore for a body like the UN to adopt and enforce a standard definition of terrorism. That so-called preemptive strikes against Afghanistan and Iraq were not the stuff of which global rule of law is made is a proven fact now. If the right to preventative intervention is allowed to be exercised by a country or group of countries without recourse to or approval of the UN system, the ultimate safeguard for rule of law is lost. It is also a settled fact in the light of the fallout of Iraq and Afghan wars that "no state, no matter how powerful, can by its own efforts alone make itself invulnerable to today's threats." So, even by the dictates of pragmatism UN sanctioned security approach is eminently preferable. Furthermore, it is the UN that a self-acting interventionist country or two had to turn to in the post-intervention phase for support. But that in no way legitimises a basically wrong war. So, it is in the interest of every country, weak or strong, superpower or not, to have a strong UN system as an embodiment of checks and balances in the global order. We wholeheartedly endorse the UN panel's recommendations for a more pro-active role of the UN Security Council in nightmare scenarios. The UN Security Council will have to be revamped and suitably empowered. The Council needs to reflect a greater regional balance through the inclusion of new members. The UNSC is recommended to be a 24-member strong body with a possible increase in the number of both permanent and non-permanent members. The problem with the UN system is that at its apex it's undemocratic with the veto power vested in the permanent members. Even the reform agenda in the essence could be shot down by any veto-wielding power. The bottomline is the world community must find ways to democratise the UN system or put up with impingement on global rule of law.
| 
