LESSON 4

THE UNITED NATIONS

AND CONTEMPORARY
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
International Organization
Refers to international intergovernmental
organizations or groups that are primarily
made up of member-states
United Nations, IMF, World Bank
 International Organizations (IOs)
can take lives of their own
Example:
IMF was able to promote a particular form of economic
orthodoxy that stemmed mainly from the beliefs of its
professional economists
Thus, IOs can become influential as independent
organizations
Powers of International Organization
(Barnett M. & Finnemore M.)

1 2 3
Power of Ability to changethe Power to diffuse
Classification meaning of words norms
Powers of International Organization
Because of these immense powers,IOs can be sources of great
good and great harm
They have the ability to promote important standards
- environmental conservation
- human rights
They can also become closed communities that refuse to
question their views
- Example: “one-size-fits-all” approach of IMF in making
recommendation for developing countries (Stiglitz, J.)
 The United Nations

most prominent IO in the contemporary world

Created when countries that worried about another

global war after the collapse of the League of Nations
at the end of World War II pushed for the formation of
a more lasting international league
UN is 1 General Assembly (GA)

divided Security Council (SC)

2

into 5
3 Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC)

active 4 International Court of Justice

5 Secretariat
organs
 UN’s“main deliberative policymaking
and representative organ”

General Decisions on important questions such

Assembly as thison peace and security, admission

of new members, and budgetary

(GA) matters require a two-thirds majority

of GA

Elected GA presidentd serves a one-

year term of office
 All member states (currently at 193)
have seats in the GA

General
Assembly Most represented body in the UN

(GA)
1949-1950: Filipino diplomat Carlos P.
Romulo was elected GA president
 Many critics believed SC to be the most
powerful

Has 15 members
Ten of the fifteen members are elected
Security to two-year terms by the GA

Council (SC) The other 5: referred to as Permanent 5

(P5)
1. China
2. France
3. Russia
4. UK
5. US
 Evaluating whether a threat to a peace
or an act of aggression exists

Security Encourages the concerned parties to

resolve their differences through
Council (SC) peacefulways and suggests measure
for adjustment or terms of settlement

Can resort to imposing sanctions or

even authorizing the use of force to
maintain or restore international peace
and security
 States that seek to intervene militarily
in another state need to obtain the
approval of the SC

Security
Council (SC)
With SC'sapproval, a military
intervention may be deemed legal

This is immense power

SC’s P5
Each country holds veto power over the council’s
decision

It only takes one veto vote from a P5 member to

stop a SC action
SC is heir to the tradition of “great power”
diplomacy that began with the
Metternich/Concert of Europe system

P5 consists of the major Allied Powers that won

World War II
 “Principal body for coordination, policy
review, policy dialogue, and
recommendations on social and
Economic environmental issues, as well as the
implementation of internationally
and Social agreed development goals”

Council 54 members elected for three-year terms

(ECOSOC)
It is the UN’s central platform for
discussions on sustainable development
 Its task is “to settle, in accordance with
international law, legal disputes
submitted to it by states and to give

International advisory opinions referred to itby

authorized UN organs and specialized

Court of agencies”

Justice The major cases of the court consist of

disputes between states that
voluntarily submit themselves to the
court for arbitration
 Consists of the “Secretary-General and
tens of thousands of international UN
staff members who carry out the day-to-
day work of the UN as mandated by the
GA and other principal organs

Secretariat
Bureaucracy of the UN
Serves as a kind of international civil
service

Members serve in their capacity as UN

employees, not as state representatives
 Limits placed upon its various
organs and programs by the
Challenges need to respect state
sovereignty

of the UN Issues of security

 Reference
Claudio L. & Abinales P. (2022). The Contemporary World. The
United Nations and Contemporary Global Governance. 2nd edition.
C&E Publishing, Inc.