International organisations ncert upsc notes

International Organisations

OVERVIEW

• Discusses the role of international organisations after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• Examines calls for restructuring international organisations in an emerging world to cope with new challenges, including the rise of US power.
• Focuses on the potential reform of the United Nations Security Council as an interesting case of the reform process and its difficulties.
• Covers India’s involvement in the UN and its perspective on Security Council reforms.
• Addresses whether the UN can play a role in a world dominated by a single superpower.
• Looks at other transnational organisations playing crucial global roles.
• The United Nations logo features a world map surrounded by olive branches, signifying world peace.

WHY INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS?

• Perception and Cartoons: The 2006 Lebanon crisis highlighted criticisms of the UN’s ineffectiveness, where Israeli bombardment continued after attacks on Hezbollah, causing widespread destruction before a UN resolution was passed in August and troops withdrew in October.
• Perspectives of Insiders:
  • Former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld stated: “The United Nations was not created to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell.”
    
  • Former UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor noted that “jaw-jaw is better than war-war” and that having a forum for dialogue is preferable to armed conflict.
• Core Purpose and Nature:
  • International organisations help manage war and peace and facilitate cooperation to improve global living conditions.
  • They are not super-states with authority over members; they are created by and respond to states upon agreement.
  • They help resolve conflicts peacefully without resorting to war.
• Facilitating Cooperation on Global Challenges:
  • Certain challenges cannot be addressed alone, such as disease eradication (inoculation/vaccination) and global warming (rising temperatures causing sea levels to rise and submerge coastal cities).
  • International organisations produce ideas and information, provide mechanisms, rules, and bureaucracies to divide costs, ensure benefits are justly distributed, and prevent cheating.
• Post-Cold War Context: With the victory of the US and its allies, international organisations are examined regarding whether they can facilitate dialogue and place checks on American power.

IMF

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organisation that oversees financial institutions and regulations acting at the international level.
• It has 190 member countries (as on 19 February 2024), but members do not enjoy an equal say.
• The G-7 members hold 41.29% of the total votes: US (16.52%), Japan (6.15%), Germany (5.32%), France (4.03%), UK (4.03%), Italy (3.02%), and Canada (2.22%).
• Other major members include China (6.09%), India (2.64%), Russia (2.59%), Brazil (2.22%), and Saudi Arabia (2.02%).

FOUNDING OF THE UNITED NATIONS

• August 1941: Signing of the Atlantic Charter by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British PM Winston S. Churchill.
• January 1942: 26 Allied nations meet in Washington, D.C., to support the Atlantic Charter and sign the ‘Declaration by United Nations’.
• December 1943: Tehran Conference Declaration of the Three Powers (US, Britain, and Soviet Union).
• February 1945: Yalta Conference of the ‘Big Three’ (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) decides to organise a UN conference on the proposed world organisation.
• April–May 1945: Two-month-long United Nations Conference on International Organisation held at San Francisco.
• 26 June 1945: Signing of the UN Charter by 50 nations (Poland signed on 15 October, bringing original founding members to 51).
• 24 October 1945: The UN is officially founded (celebrated annually as UN Day).
• 30 October 1945: India joins the United Nations.

EVOLUTION OF THE UN

• Origins: The League of Nations emerged after the First World War to prevent conflict, but failed to stop the Second World War (1939–45).
• Establishment & Objectives: The UN was established in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations, founded by 51 states signing the UN Charter to prevent conflict, stop escalation, limit hostilities, and foster social and economic development.
• Membership: Grew to 193 member states by 2011, encompassing almost all independent countries.
• Structure:
  • In the General Assembly, all members have one vote each.
  • The Security Council has five permanent members: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China (selected as the major victorious powers after World War II).
• Secretary-General: Representative head and visible public figure; António Guterres took office as the ninth Secretary-General on 1 January 2017 (former Prime Minister of Portugal 1995–2002 and UN High Commissioner for Refugees 2005–2015).
• Associated Agencies: Address socio-economic issues, including WHO, UNDP, UNHRC, UNHCR, UNICEF, and UNESCO.

The United Nations System: Principal organs

• Security Council: 15 members—5 permanent members (with veto rights) and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Decisions are binding on all UN members.
• General Assembly: Representatives of all 193 member states, each with one vote. Major decisions require a two-thirds majority; otherwise, a simple majority. Decisions are not binding on UN members.
• Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): 54 seats elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms based on geographical representation.
• International Court of Justice: 15 judges elected for nine years by absolute majority in both the General Assembly and Security Council, based in The Hague.
• Secretariat: International staff servicing the principal organs, headed by the Secretary-General (appointed by the General Assembly on Security Council recommendation for a renewable five-year term).
• Trusteeship Council: Suspended operations on 1 November 1994 following the independence of Palau, the last UN trust territory.
• Subsidiary Bodies, Programmes, and Affiliated Agencies:
  • Subsidiary Bodies: Military Staff Committee, International Criminal Tribunals (Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda), Peacekeeping Operations and Missions.
  • Programmes and Funds: UNCTAD, UNEP, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, WFP, UNRWA, and UN-Habitat (Human Settlements Programme).
  • Research and Training Institutes: UNRISD.
  • Functional Commissions: Human Rights, Narcotic Drugs, Sustainable Development, Status of Women.
  • Regional Commissions: For Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, and Western Asia.
  • Specialised Agencies (non-subsidiary): ILO, FAO, UNESCO, WHO, World Bank Group, IMF, IMO, WMO, ITU.
  • Related Organisations: IAEA (reports to both Security Council and General Assembly), WTO, OPCW.
  • Other Entities: OHCHR, UN University (UNU), UNAIDS.

UN SECRETARIES-GENERAL

• Trygve Lie (1946–1952, Norway): Lawyer and foreign minister; worked for ceasefire between India and Pakistan on Kashmir; criticised for failing to end the Korean War; resigned after the Soviet Union opposed a second term.
• Dag Hammarskjöld (1953–1961, Sweden): Worked on the Suez Canal dispute and decolonisation of Africa; awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously in 1961 for efforts in the Congo crisis.
• U Thant (1961–1971, Burma/Myanmar): Worked on the Cuban Missile Crisis and Congo crisis; established the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus; criticised the US during the Vietnam War.
• Kurt Waldheim (1972–1981, Austria): Handled issues in Namibia and Lebanon; oversaw relief operations in Bangladesh; third term blocked by China.
• Javier Perez de Cuellar (1982–1991, Peru): Worked for peace in Cyprus, Afghanistan, and El Salvador; mediated between Britain and Argentina after the Falklands War; negotiated Namibia’s independence.
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992–1996, Egypt): Issued the report An Agenda for Peace; conducted operations in Mozambique; blamed for failures in Bosnia, Somalia, and Rwanda; second term blocked by the US.
• Kofi A. Annan (1997–2006, Ghana): Created Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria; called the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq illegal; established Peacebuilding Commission and Human Rights Council (2005); Nobel Peace Prize (2001).
• Ban Ki-moon (2007–2016, Republic of Korea): Highlighted climate change; focused on MDGs and SDGs; supported the establishment of UN Women; stressed disarmament and conflict resolution.
• António Guterres (2017–present, Portugal): Former Prime Minister of Portugal (1995–2002) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2005–2015); serving as ninth Secretary-General.

REFORM OF THE UN AFTER THE COLD WAR

• Post-Cold War Context: Involves systemic changes—collapse of the USSR, emergence of the US as the primary superpower, rising power of China and India, rapid Asian economic growth, expansion of UN membership, and new challenges like civil wars, terrorism, environmental degradation, and pandemics.
• Two Core Strands of Reform:
  1. Reform of structures and processes (mainly focused on the Security Council).
  2. Review of issues within UN jurisdiction (peace and security missions vs. humanitarian/development priorities).

REFORM OF STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES

• 1992 General Assembly Resolution: Raised three main complaints: the Security Council no longer represents contemporary political realities, its decisions reflect only Western values/interests dominated by a few powers, and it lacks equitable representation.
• Kofi Annan’s Inquiry (1 January 1997): Explored criteria for new permanent and non-permanent Security Council members:
  • A major economic power
  • A major military power
  • A substantial contributor to the UN budget
  • A big nation in terms of population
  • A nation that respects democracy and human rights
  • A country that enhances Council representativeness regarding world diversity (geography, economy, culture)
• Major Contributors to UN Regular Budget (2019):
  • USA: 22.0%
  • China: 12.0%
  • Japan: 8.5%
  • Germany: 6.0%
  • UK: 4.5%
  • France: 4.4%
  • Italy: 3.3%
  • Brazil: 2.9%
  • Canada: 2.7%
  • Russia: 2.4%
  • Republic of Korea: 2.2%
  • Australia: 2.2%
  • Spain: 2.1%
  • Turkey: 1.3%
  • Netherlands: 1.3%
  • Mexico: 1.2%
  • Saudi Arabia: 1.1%
  • Switzerland: 1.1%
  • Argentina: 0.9%
  • Sweden: 0.9%
  • India: 0.8%
• Veto Power Dynamics:
  • Council members have one vote each, but permanent members can cast a negative vote (veto) to block any decision.
  • Non-permanent members serve two-year terms without immediate re-election and lack veto power.
  • Cumulative veto use up to 1 June 2018: USSR/Russia: 135; USA: 84; UK: 32; France: 18; China: 11.
  • Abolishing the veto faces resistance, with concerns that the permanent members would lose interest in the UN if their veto were eliminated.

World Bank

• Created in 1944 during the Second World War.
• Focuses activities on developing nations, providing loans and grants for human development, rural development, environmental protection, infrastructure, and governance.
• Criticised for setting economic agendas for poor nations, imposing strict loan conditionalities, and forcing free-market reforms.

JURISDICTION OF THE UN

• 60th Anniversary Summit (September 2005): Member heads agreed on key steps:
  • Creation of a Peacebuilding Commission
  • Responsibility of the international community to protect populations when national governments fail to do so
  • Establishment of the Human Rights Council (operational since 19 June 2006)
  • Commitments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
  • Condemnation of terrorism in all forms
  • Creation of a Democracy Fund
  • Agreement to wind up the Trusteeship Council
• UN Peacekeeping Operations: Include missions across the globe such as MINUSMA (Mali), MINURSO (Western Sahara), MINUSCA (Central African Republic), UNAMID (Darfur), UNMIK (Kosovo), UNFICYP (Cyprus), UNIFIL (Lebanon), UNMOGIP (India and Pakistan), MINUJUSTH (Haiti), UNMIL (Liberia), MONUSCO (DR Congo), UNMISS (South Sudan), UNISFA (Abyei), UNTSO (Middle East), and UNDOF (Syria).

INDIA AND THE UN REFORMS

• Indian Position: Supports restructuring the UN, advocating that development be central to the UN’s agenda to maintain peace and security.
• Security Council Representation: Argues that the Council’s size remained largely frozen after expanding from 11 to 15 members in 1965 (with permanent members remaining unchanged), despite significant General Assembly growth primarily consisting of developing nations.
• India’s Candidacy for Permanent Membership:
  • Holds the world’s largest population (roughly one-fifth of humanity).
  • World’s largest democracy.
  • Active involvement in almost all UN initiatives, including extensive peacekeeping participation.
  • Rapidly growing economic status.
  • Consistent and timely financial contributions to the UN budget.
• Obstacles to India’s Bid:
  • Opposition from Pakistan.
  • Concerns from some countries over India’s nuclear capabilities and ongoing friction with Pakistan.
  • Demands that accommodating India would require adding other nations (Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa).
  • Competing claims that unrepresented regions like Africa and South America should be prioritised.

WTO

• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is an international organisation setting global trade rules.
• Set up in 1995 as the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) created after WWII.
• Comprises 164 member states (as on 29 July 2016).
• Decisions are made by consensus, but major economic powers (US, EU, Japan) heavily influence rules to serve their interests, leading to complaints of non-transparency from developing nations.

IAEA

• The International Atomic Energy Agency was established in 1957 following US President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” proposal.
• Mandated to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and prevent its military misuse via regular inspections of civilian nuclear reactors worldwide.

THE UN IN A UNIPOLAR WORLD

• US Dominance: The US acts as the sole remaining superpower with unmatched military and financial leverage, enabling it to bypass or influence international bodies.
• US Influence within the UN: As the largest contributor, host country to the UN headquarters, and holder of significant positions within the bureaucracy and the veto power, the US wields major influence over UN initiatives and Secretary-General appointments.
• Role and Value of the UN:
  • While unable to balance US power directly, the UN provides a vital forum for over 190 nations to communicate, negotiate compromises, and modify US policies.
  • Indispensable for managing mutual interdependence, global cooperation, and transnational problems among more than seven billion people.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

• An international NGO campaigning for the protection of human rights worldwide based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Regards human rights as indivisible and interdependent.
• Publishes reports monitoring government misconduct and advocating for human rights protections.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

• The largest international human rights NGO in the US engaged in human rights research and advocacy.
• Directs global media attention to human rights abuses.
• Instrumental in campaigns banning landmines, prohibiting child soldiers, and creating the International Criminal Court.

Reference Ncert Document

https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/leps104.pdf