OPINION - What waits the UN order?

The author is the dean of the Faculty of Science and Literature at Aydin University in Istanbul, Türkiye.

ISTANBUL

This year the United Nations celebrated its 73th anniversary. Member states – irrespective of their material power capacity, geographical location, regime type, demographic characteristics and social and cultural attributes – are exposed to myriad challenges, ranging from climate crisis, migration problems, sustainable development to geopolitical tensions. Despite its shortcomings and deficiencies, we need the United Nations to act as the most inclusive international organization more than ever in human history. The paradox is that while we need the UN more than ever, we also see that it does not function properly and falls short of fulfilling our expectations.

It is already known that the United Nations has faced countless difficulties and tests throughout its nearly century-long life. But compared to the past, in today's world, the United Nations needs to overcome all its shortcomings if it continues to exist and maintain its legitimacy in the eyes of its members. Income inequality between the rich "Global North" countries and the poor and developing "Global South" countries is one of the biggest challenges facing the UN order.

The share of G-7 member countries in global economic output, which was around 75% of the world's total economic wealth when it was founded in 1975, has fallen to 40% today. On the other hand, the share of the countries described as the Global South has increased to 60%. Despite this significant power shift, it remains a serious injustice that representatives of the Global North countries are still appointed to heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The access of the Global South countries to the financial support they need for their economic development is still in the hands of Global North countries.

Moving to a multipolar world order

The world is now leaving behind the period when Western countries and values were dominant in global politics. We are fast moving to a polycentric and multipolar world order in which many emerging non-western countries seek higher status and just representation in multilateral organizations, not least the UN. In this transition process, where the old is destroyed and the new has not been fully born, non-Western emerging powers are calling for radical reforms in the institutional structure of the United Nations.

What is meant by UN reforms is not only that the Security Council and other UN-affiliated institutions become more representative of current power dynamics across the globe, but also that the UN’s policies give more priority to the needs and concerns of non-Western emerging powers. The mantra “The world is bigger than five," as quite frequently voiced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, captures this new thinking quite well.

The representatives of non-Western countries holding managerial positions in UN-affiliated institutions and giving these countries more voting rights in decision-making mechanisms should no longer be seen as a blessing but as a requirement of fairness. Otherwise, proposals for new international institutions will increasingly come onto the global agenda, and this will further erode the legitimacy of the UN order..

Fundamental problem of the UN

A fundamental problem challenging the UN order is the ideological fault line emerging between the liberal democratic West and the illiberal authoritarian East. Instead of serving as a host to moralizing and hubristic attitudes on the part of global heavyweights, the UN should pave the way for peaceful coexistence among states holding different ideologies, traditions, and value sets. Polarizing attitudes and the instrumental embrace of the UN by its most powerful member states will deepen global rifts and add to the feeling of global anarchy and destruction.

As Dag Hammarskjold, one of the legendary UN secretaries-general, stated, the UN was established as a mechanism to help protect humanity from hell rather than promise it heaven.

An important reason that necessitates the institutional reform of the United Nations Security Council is the acceleration of geopolitical and realpolitik struggles among great powers in today's world, which makes the functioning of the Council impossible.

The geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West about Ukraine and the global leadership struggle between the United States and China across the globe feed the anarchic and chaotic structure of international politics. The latest manifestation of the UN failure has taken place in Gaza. Just one single country, the United States, vetoed the proposed UN resolution that a ceasefire be declared immediately and humanitarian aid reaches Gaza urgently.

Alternative organizations

Therefore, we should not be surprised to see that the perception of a rule-based world order built on the principle of multilateralism has been eroded in recent years, and minilateral, pragmatic, informal, issue-based, and thematic institutional venues have replaced UN-like platforms. For example, while the United States has been trying to contain the rise of China through such minilateral initiatives as the G7, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US (AUKUS), and US-Japan-South Korea strategic cooperation; China and Russia have been trying to limit American primacy through club-like initiatives like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

We know that there are many countries around the globe that feel quite uneasy with the emerging Cold War-like geopolitical competition between the US and its non-Western peer competitors. Many of these countries, middle powers and lesser powers alike, want to sit out this rivalry and seek pragmatic cooperation with all players simultaneously. Growing cooperation and coordination among such countries could save humanity. Let’s make a bet on this.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.