UN ideals needed more than ever

Over a period of several weeks, we recently witnessed what the best and worst of the United Nations General Assembly, the annual meeting of all 193 member states, has to offer.

“In a world marked by turbulence, division and uncertainty, the United Nations is more necessary than ever,” emphasized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Who could disagree?

The worst was a forum for a parade of autocrats and wannabe-autocrats touting their personal accomplishments, airing their grievances and uttering threats, employing spurious arguments for their unsupportable actions and virulent words. To add insult to injury, they called for elimination and defunding of some of the international legal and institutional safeguards built into the UN charter to which they are signatories.

The best has seen leader statecraft at its finest and most erudite, treating listeners to lessons in history, literature and philosophy in attempts to persuade the world that we have and can do a better job of living together in harmony. They argued that while the UN may be under attack from some, what it stands for remains ever relevant and they called for the strengthening of its protective guardrails.

The UN charter, which all 193 countries have signed, states that membership is “open to peace-loving states.” Its objectives, in summary are: international peace and security; the rule of international law; the reduction of economic disparities and prevention of social harms; and universal respect for human rights and freedoms regardless of race, sex and religion.

It calls for, among other things: prevention of, and removal to, threats of peace; suppression of acts of aggression; settling of disputes by peaceful means; sovereignty equality; no threats or use of force; UN assistance to the needy and marginalized; and no interference in domestic affairs.

What the UN seems unwilling or unable to address is “not giving assistance to violators” of the charter, one of the worst currently being the U.S.A., a founding member of the UN with a permanent seat on the Security Council and the UN’s largest funder.

The U.S. president, clearly unsubstantiated, claimed to have peacefully settled eight global conflicts virtually singlehanded. In the same breath, he threatened to “annihilate the Islamic Republic,” to “drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future success.” He then proceeded to call on countries to “withdraw” from the International Criminal Court, while denigrating the International Court of Justice, UNESCO, the Human Rights Council and the International Maritime Organization.

He went on to defend the U.S.’s illegal actions in Venezuela, along with potential future actions in Cuba and other countries which do not bow to U.S. impulses or impositions. On a somewhat similar note, he continued to embrace other “violator” states such as Russia and Israel, both of whom sang similar, but also often opposing, tunes of international oppression and non-support for their illegal acts.

Russia promised to continue its “special military operation” to conclusion in Ukraine, blaming the U.S., Europe and Ukraine for interfering in its affairs and those of Iran and others. Israel, while rightfully condemning the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas savagery, which was also condemned by the UN, made no mention of its over-the-top devastation of Gaza, encroachment in the West Bank and contentious joint attack, with the U.S., on Iran.

On the flipside, there was Prime Minister Rob Jetten of the Netherlands, invoking Anne Frank, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

He emphasized the need for institutions such as the ICC and ICJ to hold instigators of international atrocities and UN violations to account. Addressing concerns about global climate change, justice and AI, he concluded with “we have everything we need to change the world for better and we don’t have to wait another minute” to get on with it.

One would be hard pressed to disagree with Guterres and Jetten that it’s a particularly critical time for the UN General Assembly’s members to renew their commitment to the ideals of harmony, peaceful co-existence and justice in their charter.

However, I am concerned that we cannot hope to accomplish this unless we are willing to name the evil of its violators’ threats and actions regardless of their economic influence and political strength.

Maybe the world needs an International Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

John R. Wiens is dean emeritus at the faculty of education, University of Manitoba.