University of Kent

Can the UN reform itself?

by

Patrick Wagner

The UN has seen several reforms since its foundation in 1945. A constantly changing political situation and new areas for UN intervention and help have for a long time made reforms necessary. “Reform of the United Nations has been under discussion for decades.”¹ However, the need for reforms is now greater than ever. The end of the Cold War has marked the beginning of a new world order, and also the beginning of a new era for the UN. A whole range of new problems and issues have appeared on its agenda: environmental problems, gender issues, refugees and international terrorism to name but a few. In addition to these new and demanding tasks, the UN still has to deal with ordinary economical development, peacekeeping and all the rest of its traditional tasks. The UN simply cannot carry out these various tasks effectively if its financial and managerial structure is not fundamentally reformed.

The UN can certainly implement a whole range of necessary reforms itself. However, just reforming the existing structures will not lead to a UN for the 21st century. The UN cannot only be measured in terms of a cost-benefit analysis. The main reform will thus be that of defining the new role of the UN in the international system. Obviously, the UN cannot effectively give itself a new role, as the organisation is only as strong as the member states want it to be. Therefore, the UN can only partially reform itself and depends on its member states for the most difficult reforms which have yet to come. Until now there is little evidence that the member states could even agree on a common direction for the UN. The big question is: “Do they [the member states] want the role of the UN in international politics and relations to expand, to remain as it is, to wither, or do they really want the UN to disappear from the international scene?”² While the South demands more rights and powers for the UN, the West would like to see the UN stay as it is or even decrease.

However, even if in the future a common view on the role of the UN can be found, will a global organisation like the UN not always need to be changed? Can there ever be a UN that meets all demands and is ‘finished’? Obviously, the world has changed a lot since the foundation of the UN in 1945, especially after the end of the Cold War, now making the need for reform very immediate. Yet, politics and international relations are not static and subject to change at any time. It seems to be inevitable, that the UN as a reflection of the world’s political situation will always be in need for adjustment and reform.

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1 Daniele Archibugi: ‘The Reform of the UN and Cosmopolitan Democracy: A Critical Review’, in: Journal of Peace Research, vol. 30, no. 3, 1993, p. 301

2 Yves Beigbeder, in: Paul Taylor and A.J.R. Groom (ed.): The United Nations at the Millennium: The Principal Organs, Continuum, London, 2000, p. 206