Tuesday, August 30, 2005

JTW News - Reform in United Nations and Turkey

"Reform in United Nations and Turkey
View: Dr. Sedat Laciner

All agrees that the United Nations (UN) needs reform. The UN was established after the Second World War and based on the balance of power of that time. The US, USSR, UK, France and China became permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power. However the balance of power dramatically shifted during the Cold War era: Japan and Germany emerged as ‘economic superpowers’; UK and France became more ‘ordinary powers’; new power areas appeared, like Asia-Pacific etc. The Cold War competition curtailed the need for structural change, yet with the end of the Cold War, the new ‘actors’ demanded more rights in the UN system. The 5-big have resisted the reform ca
lls in the 1990s. However the Iraq War clearly showed that the current UN System cannot provide dialogue and co-operation between the big economic, military and political great powers. "

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