Introduction
This assignment is a discussion on the topic of international institutions’ role in prevention of war. The discussion is based on question four “Major war will not occur in the future because the international community has created a set of international institutions that make it impossible “.
Some of the institutions and concepts that have been developed by the international community to avert a major war in the future include the United Nations (UN), pursuit of global justice, the concept of globalization, idealism, liberalism, constructivism, international law and the universal declarations of human rights.
Discussion
United Nations and Prevention of War
The UN is an international organization which brings member states together in a cooperation to achieve economic, social and political progress as well as respect for human rights through adherence to internal law. The UN is also concerned with maintenance of peace in the world. The UN was formed in 1945 after the Second World War, to replace its predecessor, the League of Nations, which was unable to prevent the Second World War. The UN was therefore formed with the main objective of preventing wars between states through negotiations, dialogue and sometimes military force. The current UN secretary general is Ban Ki- Moon from South Korea.
The UN is governed by what is referred to as the UN charter. The charter contains various provisions and guidelines regarding economy, politics, human rights, international law and justice system. The Security Council is the organ of UN which deals with issues of maintenance of peace and prevention of wars in the world.
It ensures that any threat to peace is identified as early as possible, so that the international community may intervene to bring dialogue between the conflicting parties. Once there is a war, the UN deploys its troops in the affected nation(s), as the last option to restore peace.
The UN also focuses on the factors which may compromise peace within a country or between nations. For instance, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was formed mainly to promote development in poor countries, with the philosophy that poverty and lack of development are potential sources of ethnic or political violence within a nation or between nations.
Other organizations affiliated to the UN are the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). All these institutions and programs are aimed at empowering people with education and the civilization needed to respect each other as well as to take care of the environment.
The United Nations also adopted the universal declaration of human rights in 1948, which outlines human rights which must be respected by any government in the world. Any government which violates these rights may be subjected to international law and international justice system, based on the Rome statute which forms the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is mandated with dealing with cases of genocide or massive abuse of human rights.
Examples of some trials which have taken place in the court are the cases for former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Liberia. The international law and the ICC therefore act as a check against acts of aggression or mass atrocities within nation(s). UN also addresses the issue of smuggling of firearms, which may result to armed conflict within a nation or between nations. Countries which violate the UN charter or those which do not promote disarmament may be slapped with economic sanctions.
Pursuit of Global Justice
This is a politically derived philosophy which is formed on the assumption that the world is generally unjust and unfair. What this means is that the world is full of biases when it comes to matters of justice in the distribution of power, economic resources and opportunities. Generally, the injustice is fuelled by the politics of domination between nations of the world whereby the rich deny the poor justice in various sectors.
In terms of social relationships, the rich people are known to manipulate the process of justice in their favor thus making the poor unable to get justice because they cannot afford to purchase it. The pursuance of global justice by the international community has ensured that nations of the world are treated with the respect they deserve. Nations also are able to resolve disagreements through international law and institutions.
The Concept of Globalization
Globalization can be defined as the minimization of the differences between people of the world and the maximization of their similarities through interactions, cooperation and communication. During the pre-world war period, the world was characterized by minimal interaction, communication, cross-border movements and language homogeneity.
However, after the world war, this situation changed. The changes were mainly triggered by the desire for nations of the world to unite in various spheres of development mainly the economy, education, employment, the environment and governance (Beck 45).
Idealism
In international relations and foreign policy, idealism is a political philosophy which entails the advancement of a particular ideology (political, social or economic) both at home and abroad, with a view of promoting and safeguarding the interests of citizens of a county and those of citizens in other countries in regard to that issue. Examples include the fight against poverty, HIV/AIDS and advocacy for democracy instead of dictatorship or authoritarianism as well as safeguarding of human rights.
Liberalism
This is the idea that nations of the world relate not only for political power and economic purposes but also for cultural purposes. With liberalism therefore, the relationship between states is characterised by a lot of cooperation in various aspects like in trade and cultural exchange. Liberalism also claims that nations which interact in trade and cultural exchange rarely make war and these acts as an incentive to international peace.
Constructivism
This is the augment that international relations are based on ideas but not on material things like wealth creation or cultural exchange. Countries which have similar ideologies are therefore more likely to relate or interact with each other than those which have different ideologies.
According to constructivists, the interaction between states is influenced by collective values, social identities and culture. The constructivist approach therefore does not see any anarchy between nations and also blames realism and liberalism for failing to predict the end of the cold war.
International Law
International law refers to the set of laws or principles which govern the relationships between sovereign states (Fichtelberg 41). It was initially formed to govern the manner in which nation states related to each other with a view of improving their relationships in regard to specific issues. International law initially took the form of treaties and agreements between states, which were either bilateral or multilateral.
The treaties were on issues like trade, agriculture and other forms of cooperation between the signatories of the treaties. The world has been changing which has led to the emergence of a new international system whereby states interact more frequently than before. Globalization, terrorism and ethnic conflicts have been on the rise in the recent years (Scott 214). This has led to the adjustment of international law to take care of the issues in the new international system and how states treat their own citizens.
One of the ways in which international law has been changed is in regard to the issue of human rights. International law initially did not interfere with internal affairs of sovereign states and how states treated their own citizens.
But with the rising cases of atrocities committed by governments to their citizens, international law has been widened in scope to address the issue of crime against humanity based on the universal declaration of human rights, which makes it illegal for any government to violate the so called civil and political liberties of its citizens (Darraj 92).
The issue of environment has also made international law to be widened in scope to include environmental protection. This is mainly due to climate change which leads to global warming. Several treaties have been formed to address the issue of climate change. Examples include the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Kyoto protocol on climate change, the United Nations convention to combat desertification and the Copenhagen talks (Deke 76).
Universal Declarations of Human Rights
Every human being is endowed with certain inalienable rights and entitlements. These rights and entitlements exist as shared norms of human moralities and natural rights. The rights and entitlements underscore the importance of treating all human beings with dignity, fairness and equality irrespective of their cultural backgrounds.
These rights and entitlements are supported by strong reasons and legal basis at national and international levels. Human rights ideas emerged after the Second World War when the universal declaration of human rights was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948. Human rights laws to some extend remain credible as a reflection of a global commitment to human rights. Each state has the obligation to protect human rights for its citizens (Paul 8).
Works Cited
Beck, Ulrich. What is globalization? Oxford: Polity Press, 2000.45.Print.
Darraj, Sussan. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Paris: Infobase Publishing, 2010.92.Print.
Deke, Oliver. Environmental Policy Instruments for Conserving Global Biodiversity Volume 339 of Kieler Studien. Heidelberg: Springer, 2008.76.Print.
Fichtelberg, Aaron. Law at the Vanishing Point: A Philosophical Analysis of International Law. Farnham GU9 7PT: Ashgate Publishing, 2008.41.Print.
Paul, Guchteneire. Democracy and Human Rights in Multicultural Societies. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing., 2007. 8. Print.
Scott, Gregory. 21 Debated: Issues in World Politics. Kingsway: Longman Publishers, 2002.214.Print.