THE DEFINITION OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
WHAT IS GLOBAL GOVERNANCE?
Global Governance refers to the various intersecting processes that create these
sources. There are some sources of Global Governance or key actors participating in resources
governance in an international level include national governments, private transnational entities
operating on a commercial or nonprofit basis and transnational communities of interest with a
civil society. One lesson will not be able to cover the various ways Global Governance; this
lesson will only examine how global governance is articulated by intergovernmental
organization. This will focus primarily on the UN because it is the most prominent
intergovernmental organizations today.

WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION?

It is likewise when scholars refer to groups like the UN or institutions like the IMF and the
World Bank. International NGO's sometimes considered as IOs (international organization) - this
term is commonly used to refer to international intergovernmental organizations or groups
that are primarily made up of member states.
One major fallacy about IOs(international organization) is that they are merely
amalgamation of various state interests.

Here are Michael N. Barnett & Martha Finniemore power of IOs listed;
o First, IOs have the power of classifications it can invent and apply categories
and it creates powerful global standards.
o Second, IOs have the power to fix meanings, it is broader function related to the
first. Here, the terms like "security" or "development" need to be well defined.
o Finally, IOs have the power to diffuse norms; Norms are accepted codes of
conduct that may not be strict law.
o Furthermore, IOs do not only classify and fix meanings; they also spread their
ideas across the world. However, because of these immense powers, IOs can be
sources of great good and great harm. Also, it can promote relevant norms like
environmental protection and human rights.

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THE UNITED NATIONS AND ITS CHALLENGES
Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the student is expected to:

1. Discuss about the United Nations;
2. Identify challenges of the United Nations; and
3. Illustrate state sovereignty.

THE UNITED NATIONS

 Having examined the powers, limitations, and weaknesses of IOs, the spotlight will now
fall on the most prominent IO in the contemporary world, the United Nations (UN). After the
collapse of the League of Nations at the end of the World War II, countries that worried about
another global war began to push for the formation of a more lasting international league.
The result was the creation of the UN. Although the organization is far from perfect, it
should be emphasized that it has so far achieved its primary goal of averting another global war.
For reason alone, the UN should be considered success.

ORGANS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

A. General Assembly (GA)is UN’s “main deliberative policymaking and representative
organ.” According to the UN charter, “Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace
and security, admission of new members, and budgetary matters, require a two–thirds majority
of General Assembly. Decisions on the other questions are done by simple majority. Annually,
the General Assembly elects a GA President to serve a one-year term of office”. All members’
states (currently at 193) have seats in the GA.
B. Security Council (SC) is commentators consider this to be the most powerful.
According to the UN, this body consists of 15 member states. The GA elects ten of these 15 ten
two-year terms. The other five-sometimes referred to as the Permanent 5 (P5)-are China,
France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These states have been permanent
members since the founding of the UN, and cannot be replaced through election. The SC takes
the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or an act of aggression. It calls
upon the parties to a dispute to settle the act by peaceful means and recommends methods of
adjustments or terms of settlement. In some cases, it can resort to imposing sanctions or even
authorizing the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. Much
attention has been placed on the SC’s P5 due to their permanent seats and because each
country holds veto power over the council’s decisions. It only takes one veto vote from a P5
member to a stop an SC action dead in its tracks. In these sense, the SC is heir to the tradition
of “great power” diplomacy that began with the Metternich/Concert of Europe system. It is
especially telling that the P5 consists of the major Allied Powers that won World War II.
C. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) “the principal body for coordination, policy
review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on social and environmental issues, as well as
the implementation of internationally agreed development goals”
D. International Court of Justice “is to settle, in accordance with the international law,
legal disputes submitted to it’s by states and to give advisory opinions referred to it by
authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. “The secretariat 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 General Assembly and the organization’s other
principal organs. “It is the bureaucracy of the UN, serving as a kind of international civil service.
Members of the secretariat serve in their capacity as UN employees and not as state
representatives.

CHALLENGES OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Given the scope of the UN’s activities, it naturally faces numerous challenges. Chief
among these are the limits placed upon its various organs and programs by the need to respect
state sovereignty.
The UN is not a world government, and its functions primarily because of voluntary
cooperation from states. If states refuse to cooperate, the influenced of the UN can be severely
circumscribed.
 For example, the UN Council on Human Rights can send special rapporteurs to
countries where alleged human rights violations are occurring. If a country does not
 invite the rapporteur or places conditions on his/her activities, however, this information
gathering mechanism usually fails to achieve its goals.
However, the biggest challenge of the United Nations is related to issues of security. The
UN Security Council is tasked with authorizing international acts of military intervention.
Because of the P5’s veto power, it is tough for the council to release a formal resolution, much
more implement it.
 For example; in the late 1990’s when the United States sought to intervene in the
Kosovo war. Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was committing acts of ethnic
cleansing against ethnic Muslim Albanians in the province of Kasoro.
Hundreds and thousands of Albanians were victims of massacres, mass deportations,
and internal displacement. Amid this systematic terror, members of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), led by the United States, sought SC authorization to intervene in the
Kosovo war on humanitarian grounds. China and Russia threatened to veto any action,
rendering the UN incapable of addressing the crisis.
NATO decided to intervene on its. Through the NATO intervention was largely a success, it
nevertheless, left the UN ineffectual.
Today, a similar is evident in Syria, which is undergoing a civil war. Russia has
threatened to veto any SC resolution against Syria; thus the UN has done very little to stop
state-sanctioned violence against opponents of the government.
Since, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the latter
has shied away from any policy that could weaken the legitimacy of the former.
The UN is again ineffectual amid a conflict that has led to over 220,000 people dead and
11 million displaced.
Despite these problems, it remains important for the SC to place a high bar on military
intervention.
However, UN members Russia, China, and France and France were unconvinced and
vetoed the UN resolution for intervention, forcing the United States to load a small “coalition of
the willing "with its allies.
It has since been discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and the
invasion of Iraq has caused problems for the country and the region that last until today.

REFERENCE:

Claudio, L &Abinales P. (2018). The contemporary world. Quezon City: C & E Publishing.