New millennium, new perspectives UNU Millennium Series Series editors: Hans van Ginkel and Ramesh Thakur The UNU Millennium Series examines key international trends for peace, governance, human development, and the environment into the twenty- first century, with particular emphasis upon policy relevant recommenda- tions for the United Nations. The series also contributes to broader aca- demic and policy debate concerning the challenges that are faced at the international level at the turn of the Millennium, and envisions potential for partnerships among states, international organizations, and civil soci- ety actors in collectively addressing these challenges. New millennium, new perspectives: The United Nations, security, and governance Edited by Ramesh Thakur and Edward Newman © The United Nations University, 2000 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not neces- sarily reflect the views of the United Nations University. The United Nations University 53-70, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-8925, Japan Tel: +81-3-3499-2811 Fax: +81-3-3406-7345 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.unu.edu United Nations University Office in North America 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-1462-70, New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: +1-212-963-6387 Fax: +1-212-371-9454 E-mail: [email protected] Cover design by Joyce C. Weston Printed in the United States of America UNUP-1054 ISBN 92-808-1054-5 Contents Tables and figures . vii 1 Introduction . 1 Ramesh Thakur 2 Security and governance in the new millennium: Observations and syntheses . 7 Edward Newman Security 3 The Security Council in the 1990s: Inconsistent, improvisational, indispensable? . 21 David M. Malone 4 Intervention: Trends and challenges . 46 Chantal de Jonge Oudraat 5 Trends in military expenditure and arms transfers . 77 Elisabeth Sköns 6 “Alliances” and regional security developments: The role of regional arrangements in the United Nations’ promotion of peace and stability . 108 Brian Job v vi CONTENTS 7 Weapons of mass destruction . 131 Trevor Findlay 8 “New” and “non-traditional” security challenges . 150 Paul Stares Governance 9 Recasting global governance . 163 Samuel Makinda 10 Democracy and regression . 182 Sakuntala Kadirgamar-Rajasingham 11 Civil society and global governance . 205 Michael Edwards 12 The United Nations and human rights . 220 David Forsythe 13 Gender and international society: Law and policy . 242 Christine Chinkin 14 Decentralized governance for human development . 261 G. Shabbir Cheema and Mounir Tabet 15 Governing global public goods in a multi-actor world: The role of the United Nations . 296 Inge Kaul Contributors . 317 Index . 319 Tables and figures Tables 4.1 UN Security Council sanctions imposed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, 1945–2000 . 48 4.2 Uses of military force authorized by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, 1945–2000 . 50 5.1 World military expenditure, 1949–85 . 81 5.2 World military expenditure, 1989–98 . 82 5.3 Regional military expenditure estimates, 1989–98 . 83 5.4 Volume of imports of major conventional weapons, 1988–98 . 85 5.5 Leading suppliers of major conventional weapons, 1994–98 . 86 5.6 Military expenditures as a percentage of GDP, selected countries, 1990–98 . 87 5.7 Largest arms-producing countries, 1996 . 93 6.1 Forms of multilateral security management . 112 6.2 Regional, subregional, and interregional organizations: Peace-keeping and peace-related activities . 119 6.3 Budget estimates of organizations and their peace-related programmes, 1997 . 126 14.1 Political decentralization in selected countries, 1999 . 269 vii viii TABLES AND FIGURES 14.2 Extent of fiscal decentralization in selected countries, 1990–97 . 272 14.3 Sustainable human development objectives in the case studies . 279 14.4 Good governance principles in the case studies . 283 15.1 Global concerns as global public goods: A selective typology . 300 Figures 14.1 Decentralization and good governance . 278 14.2 Service delivery and institutional structures . 282 14.3 Participation . 285 14.4 Initiative and leadership . 289 1 Introduction Ramesh Thakur The business of the world has changed almost beyond recognition over the course of the last hundred years. At the turn of the last century, Japan was the first country outside Europe to break into the ranks of the great powers. Yet even until the Second World War, international affairs were largely Eurocentric in composition, concern, and agenda. There are many more actors today, and their patterns of interaction are far more complex. In 1950, the soldier and the diplomat could still be said to symbolize the two lead actors on the world stage. In 2000, the interna- tional peace-keeper, financier, and NGO activist have noisily clambered aboard as well—not to mention the terrorist, the drug smuggler, and the currency speculator. The national bureaucrat must work alongside the international civil servant. The United Nations International organizations touch our daily lives in myriad ways. They are an essential means of conducting world affairs more satisfactorily than would be possible under conditions of international anarchy or total self-help. The United Nations lies at their legislative and normative centre. One hundred years ago, although a considerable body of discourse and proposals had been advanced, the first large general international organi- 1 2 RAMESH THAKUR zation had not yet been established. Although the League of Nations died under the weight of the Second World War in the middle of the twentieth century, the idea of a universal organization dedicated to protecting peace and promoting welfare—of achieving a better life in a safer world, for all—survived the death, destruction, and disillusionment of the war. The threshold of the new millennium is also the cusp of a new era in world affairs. In this period of transition, the United Nations is the focus of hopes and aspirations for a future where men and women live at peace with themselves and in harmony with nature. The Charter of the United Nations, which codifies best-practice state behaviour, was a triumph of hope and idealism over the experience of two world wars. The flame flickered in the chill winds of the Cold War, but did not, and must not, die out. The global public goods of peace, prosper- ity, sustainable development, and good governance cannot be achieved by any country acting on its own. The United Nations is still the symbol of our dreams for a better world, where weakness can be compensated by justice and fairness, and the law of the jungle replaced by the rule of law. The sad reality is that the twentieth century was the most murderous on record. The need for international assistance in many continents is an unhappy reminder of man’s inhumanity against fellow man and his rapa- ciousness against nature. Furthermore, almost three billion people living in abject poverty will have had neither the spirit nor the means to cheer the arrival of the new millennium. In consolidating gains and mitigating setbacks, sustained success re- quires us all to make a greater commitment to the vision and values of the United Nations, and to make systematic use of the UN forum and modali- ties for international collaboration. UNU mission and roles The United Nations University is an institution, based in Japan but with a global reach and network, that is engaged with the world of problem- solving scholarship through the United Nations system and beyond. Its mission is to contribute, through research and capacity-building, to ef- forts to resolve the pressing global problems that now concern the United Nations, its Member States, and their peoples. The forward-looking, problem-solving orientation of the United Na- tions University distinguishes its work from that of traditional universi- ties. It eschews basic research for its own sake, focusing instead on edu- cation and research for the United Nations, the international scientific community, and the people of the world. It tries to bring the state of sci- entific scholarship to bear on problems of international public policy. INTRODUCTION 3 Knowledge and information are said to be power. Over the course of the millennium, there has occurred the progressive democratization, secu- larization, and universalization of knowledge. Previously it was restricted to a narrow circle of courtiers and/or members of the religious hierarchy and served to reinforce the social status and authority of the elite. Today it is a basic right, an entitlement owed to everyone as a human being. Literacy in the industrialized world is universal. Among developing coun- tries, it is increasingly seen as a prerequisite for, as well as an indicator of, development. Scientists emphasize complexity and nuance and eschew simplistic solutions based on simple-minded analyses. The scholar is more comfort- able with the subtle footnote than with the soundbite. Policy-makers demand instant prescriptions within the urgency of real-time constraints and incomplete information. They abhor jargon. The taxpayer supports university research—in many countries directly, through publicly funded educational institutions, and in some cases indirectly, through the provi- sion of public goods without which the private sector could not run uni- versities at a reasonable cost. The millennium conference The United Nations University is all about bridging the gap: between theory and practice, scholarship and diplomacy, and the United Nations and the world community of scholars; between governments, non- governmental organizations (NGOs), and people. The landmark millen- nium conference of January 2000—where the papers in this volume were initially presented—was an important demonstration of how the United Nations University can implement its mandate with respect to its many constituencies. The conference had three integral and complemen- tary elements that were organized to create new ideas and fresh thinking relevant to the United Nations and, in a wider sense, to the challenges faced by humanity.