Abstracts of Papers
After 9/11 and the war in Iraq the UN - and its underlying principle of
Collective Security - is in crisis. The relationship between the organization and
the USA is damaged and still tense. There is a deep cleavage within the
group of the liberal western democracies, most conspicuous in the UN's Security
Council, which relates back to the dispute about an armed intervention in
Iraq. The current US administration is weary of international cooperation within
the limits of the world organization, but other countries are discontent as
well with the way the UN works and looks today. Countries such as India or
Japan, although representing one sixth of the world's population or being one of
the main financial contributors, do not hold a permanent seat in the
Security Council, just as whole continents Latin America and Africa.
Our presentation deals with the measures which need to be taken to counter
the threats the world organization is faced with today. We will try to offer
perspectives for problems such as the following: How can the Security Council
gain authority and legitimacy? How can the most powerful country in the world
be integrated again? Does the UN need to rethink its goals, strategies and
capacities? What about the ever-emerging global civil society?
(Session I)
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