SECRETARY-GENERAL, AT OVERSEAS CLUB IN HAMBURG, CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO TEAR DOWN WALLS OF ISOLATIONISM, FEAR, FANATICISM
Press Release
SG/SM/6090
SECRETARY-GENERAL, AT OVERSEAS CLUB IN HAMBURG, CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO TEAR DOWN WALLS OF ISOLATIONISM, FEAR, FANATICISM
19961018 Following is the text of the statement to be delivered tomorrow, 19 October, by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the Overseas Club in Hamburg, Germany:Here, in Germany, nearly seven years ago, one of the greatest global conflicts in history came to an end. As the Berlin Wall gave way, so did decades of cold war confrontation. A new era was born. And the world rejoiced.
Today we live free from the acute danger of global nuclear devastation. And, in this sense, the world is definitely a safer place.
But the world today faces a new threat. Fragmentation can separate the peoples of a single nation. It can undermine human solidarity. It can lead to a turning inward. It can cause a failure to see the importance of our common international institutions.
There are those today who criticize the United Nations. Who negate its achievements. Who threaten to marginalize it.
On the contrary, the record of the United Nations shows more than 50 years of service to humanity.
For those oppressed by colonialism, the United Nations was a beacon of freedom. At the United Nations, newly-independent peoples could take their rightful place on the international stage -- in the system of sovereign States -- and feel welcome and supported.
States in conflict found in the United Nations a neutral and impartial mediator -- and in United Nations peace-keeping, a valuable tool. Refugees found food, clothing and shelter. Children found protection from starvation and disease. Entire societies found support for economic and social development.
For all peoples, the United Nations elaborated and promoted human rights. It defended international law and promoted its progressive development. It provided a place where all States could meet, as sovereign equals, to forge consensus on global issues -- such as disarmament, the environment, and the advancement of women. It provided a place to translate consensus into concrete commitments and cooperative action.
Examine the record. What we have in the United Nations is not only a forum for multilateral diplomacy on a global scale, but also a unique instrument for the realization of the collective will of its Member States. What the world has in the United Nations is an Organization critical to the future. It is far too valuable to be the scapegoat when international cooperation meets with setbacks.
But what is at stake in the debate about the United Nations goes far beyond the United Nations itself. Hanging in the balance is an entire range of international achievement and aspiration. At stake is what the future will reveal as the finest project of the twentieth century -- the project for international cooperation.
The project of international cooperation goes back some three centuries. But it is the twentieth century that has brought the greatest advances in international systems, institutions, doctrines and agreements for the common good of all humanity.
Consider four key elements of this project. The concept of collective security. The idea of universal human rights. The expansion of international law. And the recognition of the role of sustainable development.
Collective security was conceived and pursued as an alternative to big-Power calculation of balance-of-power politics -- an old and inherently dangerous method for maintaining international stability. The aim would be to achieve global burden-sharing for peace. All States would have a stake in a shared system, created not only to reverse acts of aggression, but also to prevent aggression and other threats to peace.
The idea of universal human rights took the human person -- the one irreducible entity in world affairs -- and made respect for its inherent dignity a foundation of peace and freedom for all peoples. A steady process of consensus-building over the past decades has strengthened this foundation. The rights and groups to be protected have been defined more and more sharply, as international machinery to ensure protection has continually improved.
International law was conceived some three and a half centuries ago as a foundation for a stable and progressive system of relations among States. The effort to expand the law of nations represents a fundamental rejection of power and military might as the basis for international order. It aspires to
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replace superior force with legal superiority -- to promote international relations governed by the rule of law.
International cooperation for development has come to be recognized as essential to removing the causes of deprivation and confrontation. The legacy of conflict can hamper development -- and the lack of development can fuel still more conflict. The evolution of a consensus on development cooperation offers a way to help break this cycle and strengthen development respectful of the environment, for long-term stability, within and among States.
The United Nations today is the embodiment of this wide-ranging project. Yet this great project is now under threat.
Today we see dangerous signs of a weakening of international civility, solidarity and commonality of purpose. And collective security, human rights, international law and development cooperation are not the only foundations at risk. Even more fundamental concepts -- the State, sovereignty, even the concept of universal human rights. All are put in question.
If the United Nations is allowed to fall or to be marginalized, this entire project of internationalism will be fatally undermined. The world will lose the momentum to achieve structures of peace, justice and prosperity that apply to all nations and all peoples.
If this project goes forward, it can only do so successfully with, and through, the United Nations.
The current phase in the continuous process of reform and renewal already under way at the United Nations has produced a vision of the future which can guide our efforts in the period immediately ahead.
The United Nations of the future would offer an effective system of collective security -- whose sheer existence would be a major contribution to prevention. Prevention would become the primary rule of action. The requisite mandates and resources would be provided to all peace operations in a consistent and reliable manner. An effective division of labour with regional organizations would be in place. Some form of limited United Nations or United Nations-authorized rapid deployment force would be at the ready, to deal with violence that no single nation, or group, would consider it a matter of national interest to tackle -- though it would clearly be in the international interest and responsibility to do so. Such a capacity would be part of a new agreed mechanism to help failed States to reintegrate the international community.
In the human rights and humanitarian field, there would be near universal ratification of existing treaties and covenants. Human rights machinery would be strengthened and function effectively. Jurisdictional
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protection for international humanitarian law would continue to expand. A strengthened system-wide capacity for early-warning and prevention of disasters would be in place. All this would yield a lower incidence of humanitarian emergencies. The world would be much closer to the conditions in which human dignity can truly flourish.
Development would receive the attention and resources that it deserves. The relationship between developed and developing States would change, fundamentally, from assistance to cooperation. The Organization and its specialized agencies would continue and reinforce the effective division of labour, in supporting the policy consensus now being advanced. Investment in people would be understood as a prerequisite to progress. A strong civil society would shape, support and participate in the development effort. Social justice within and among States would ensure that material progress moves forward without excluding those now on the margins of survival. Nature would be allowed to renew itself. Economic growth would be understood as essential not only to advance material progress, but to provide society with options in every important field. And a commitment to democratization would be seen as a key to long-term peace, the cornerstone of all development, and the driving force for progress on all fronts.
Democratization within States would thrive as the process of democratization advances internationally. A society of States, and an enlarged international civil society, would emerge, committed to democratic principles and processes. International law and the expansion of international jurisdiction would be crucial to this process of democratization. All States would accept the general jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Where domestic constraints prevent this, States would provide a list of the matters they are willing to submit to the Court. A permanent international criminal court would be established.
The United Nations of the future would remain an intergovernmental Organization, in the service of its Member States and their peoples. At the same time, it would increasingly open its structures to non-State actors and other representatives of civil society. Streamlining of intergovernmental machinery would enable further streamlining at the institutional level. Other major remaining obstacles to reform would be cleared by decisions taken by Member States on key interrelated issues -- such as the future composition and procedure of the Security Council, a revised scale of assessment, an improved mechanism to collect assessments, and the paying off of the Organization's peace-keeping debts. The principal organs of the United Nations would function in the balance contemplated by the Charter. Among the core organs of the system -- the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretariat -- a new equilibrium would be achieved. And finally, steps would have been taken to ensure that conditions of service -- most urgently the safety of personnel -- are such that the United Nations can continue to
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attract and retain highly qualified personnel, capable of advancing the United Nations toward ever more effective service of humanity.
Today, here, in Germany, I call upon the entire family of nations to show the courage to transform this utopian vision of today into the reality of tomorrow.
Walls of isolationism. Walls of ignorance. Walls of fear. Walls of fanaticism. We must tear down these walls that divide us and strengthen the foundations of our common future. We must reclaim and pursue with renewed vigour this most essential human project -- the project for peace among nations.
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