World government: Difference between revisions
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==== "The Golden Age" ==== |
==== "The Golden Age" ==== |
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The years between the conclusion of WW2 and 1950, when the [[Korean War]] started and the [[Cold War]] mindset became dominant in international politics, were the "golden age" of the world federalism movement. [[Wendell Wilkie]]'s book "One World", first published in 1943, sold over 2 million copies. Another book, [[Emery Reves]]' "The Anatomy of Peace" (1945) laid out the arguments for replacing the UN with a federal world government and quickly became the "bible" of world federalists. The grassroots world federalist movement in the US, led by people such as [[Grenville Clark]], [[Norman Cousins]], [[Alan Cranston]] and [[Robert Hutchins]], organized itself into increasingly larger structures, finally forming, in 1947, the [[United World Federalists]] (later renamed to World Federalist Association, then [[Citizens for Global Solutions]]), claiming membership of 47,000 in 1949. |
The years between the conclusion of WW2 and 1950, when the [[Korean War]] started and the [[Cold War]] mindset became dominant in international politics, were the "golden age" of the world federalism movement. [[Wendell Wilkie]]'s book [[One_World_%28book%29|"One World"]], first published in 1943, sold over 2 million copies. Another book, [[Emery Reves]]' "The Anatomy of Peace" (1945) laid out the arguments for replacing the UN with a federal world government and quickly became the "bible" of world federalists. The grassroots world federalist movement in the US, led by people such as [[Grenville Clark]], [[Norman Cousins]], [[Alan Cranston]] and [[Robert Hutchins]], organized itself into increasingly larger structures, finally forming, in 1947, the [[United World Federalists]] (later renamed to World Federalist Association, then [[Citizens for Global Solutions]]), claiming membership of 47,000 in 1949. |
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Similar movements concurrently formed in many other countries, leading to the formation, at a 1947 meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, of a global coalition, now called [[World Federalist Movement]]. By 1950, the movement claimed 56 member groups in 22 countries, with some 156,000 members. In France, 1948, [[Garry Davis]] began an unauthorized speech calling for a WG from the balcony of the UN General Assembly, until he was dragged away by the guards. Mr. Davis renounced his American citizenship and started a [[Registry of World Citizens]], which claimed to have registered over 750,000 people in less than two years. Opinion polls carried out by [[UNESCO]] in 1948-1949 found world government favored by a majority of respondents in six European countries and rejected in three other countries (Australia, Mexico and the United States). On September 4, 1953, Davis, from the City Hall of Ellsworth, Maine, announced the formation of the "World Government of World Citizens" based on 3 "World Laws" — One God (or Absolute Value), One World, and One Humanity. (See www.worldservice.org/ells.html). Following this declaration mandated he claimed by article 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he formed the United World Service Authority in New York city as the administratrive agency of the new government. Its first task was to design and issue a "World Passport" based on article 13(2) of the UDHR. To date, over 800,000 of these documents have been issued to individuals worldwide. They have been recognized de facto by over 150 countries. |
Similar movements concurrently formed in many other countries, leading to the formation, at a 1947 meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, of a global coalition, now called [[World Federalist Movement]]. By 1950, the movement claimed 56 member groups in 22 countries, with some 156,000 members. In France, 1948, [[Garry Davis]] began an unauthorized speech calling for a WG from the balcony of the UN General Assembly, until he was dragged away by the guards. Mr. Davis renounced his American citizenship and started a [[Registry of World Citizens]], which claimed to have registered over 750,000 people in less than two years. Opinion polls carried out by [[UNESCO]] in 1948-1949 found world government favored by a majority of respondents in six European countries and rejected in three other countries (Australia, Mexico and the United States). On September 4, 1953, Davis, from the City Hall of Ellsworth, Maine, announced the formation of the "World Government of World Citizens" based on 3 "World Laws" — One God (or Absolute Value), One World, and One Humanity. (See www.worldservice.org/ells.html). Following this declaration mandated he claimed by article 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he formed the United World Service Authority in New York city as the administratrive agency of the new government. Its first task was to design and issue a "World Passport" based on article 13(2) of the UDHR. To date, over 800,000 of these documents have been issued to individuals worldwide. They have been recognized de facto by over 150 countries. |
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==== 1950 - Present ==== |
==== 1950 - Present ==== |
Revision as of 12:00, 25 April 2007
World government is the concept of a political body that would make, interpret and enforce international law. Inherent to the concept of a world government is the idea that nations would be required to pool or surrender (depending on point of view) sovereignty over some areas. In effect, a world government would add another level of administration above the existing national governments or provide coordination over areas national governments are not capable of adequately addressing as independent polities.
Currently, there has not been a nation to officially put forward plans for a world government, although some people do see international institutions (such as the International Criminal Court, United Nations, and International Monetary Fund) as the beginning elements of a world government system. An organization comprised of legislators from various nations known as Parliamentarians for Global Action have promoted ideas of democratic global governance, though such promotion has varied in its scope and intensity during the organization's history.
There are many often contradictory visions of world government in science fiction ranging from the utopian to the dystopian. Fundamentalist Christianity and some other religious systems refer to world government primarily in apocalyptic and dystopian terms. Islamists consider the only plausible world government to be ruled only by Islamic leaders. Other religions, notably the Bahá'í Faith, see an international level of government as an essential requisite for an orderly and peaceful society. The term "New world order" has also been used in a variety of political contexts, notably by American President George H. W. Bush in describing what he claimed he saw as a new era of global co-operation between democratic nations. Many with a distrust of government generally, or who fear a preponderance of American influence on the global stage interpret the phrase more ominously. Some go so far as to see any form of global governance as a grand conspiracy for world domination by one of a number of real and/or fictional organizations.
History of the world government idea
Early concepts
The need for a global government to preserve the peace between nations was discussed in ancient Greek and Roman times, and, in modern times the idea has been recognized since the early 14th century (Dante, for example, discusses it in his book Monarchia, 1329). In 1625, the great Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius wrote De Jure Belli ac Pacis (The Laws of War and Peace), which is commonly taken as the starting-point of modern international law. The idea of a federation gained much momentum during the late 18th century, a period in which the first modern democratic federation, the USA, was established (1788), and in which Immanuel Kant wrote the essay "Perpetual Peace: a philosophical sketch" (1795). In his essay, Kant describes three basic requirements for organizing human affairs to permanently abolish the threat of a future war:
- The civil constitution of each state shall be republican
- The law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states.
- The rights of people, as citizens of the world, shall be limited to the conditions of universal hospitality (ie, people would be allowed to visit other countries, but not to stay unless invited).
Hobbes
The English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes' book Leviathan (1651) expounded on the 'social contract theory' of government. When 'nation' is substituted for 'person' in the theory below, it advocates the creation of a world government and depicts the current international system as anarchical.
"The natural condition of nations is a state of perpetual war of all against all, where no morality exists, and everyone lives in constant fear," this is the "state of nature". Hobbes' first law states; "That every nation ought to endeavour peace as far as they have hope of obtaining it; and when they cannot obtain it, that they may seek and use all helps and advantages of war." Hobbes explains the subtext of the political process, "We mutually divest ourselves of certain rights, such as the right to take another nation's life, so to achieve peace. That a nation be willing, when others are so too, as far-forth as for peace and defense of his nation he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other nations, as he would allow other nations against his nation." The mutual transferring of these rights is called a contract and is the basis of the notion of moral obligation, duty and government. From selfish reasons alone, we are both motivated to reciprocally transfer these and other obligatory rights, since this will end the dreaded state of war between us.
Hobbes continues by discussing the validity of certain contracts. For example, contracts made in the state of nature are not generally binding, for, if I fear that you will violate your part of the bargain, then no true agreement can be reached. This problem is solved by giving unlimited power to a political sovereign who will punish us if we violate our contracts, "that to ensure contracts (and peace) policing power must be given to one person, or one assembly. We do this by saying, implicitly or explicitly, "I authorise and give up my right of governing myself, to this nation, or to this assembly of nations, on this condition, that thou give up thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner."
The 19th Century
In 1811, a German philosopher, Karl Krause, suggested, in an essay titled "The Archetype of Humanity", the formation of five regional federations, Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia, aggregated under a world republic. In 1842, the English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson, published the often-quoted lines ("Locksley Hall"): For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see / Saw a Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be /... / Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer / and the battle-flags were furled / In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. / There the common sense of most shall hold / a fretful realm in awe / And the kindly earth shall slumber / lapt in universal law.
Between 1852 and 1892 Bahá'u'lláh founded the Bahá'í Faith, and identified the establishment of a global commonwealth of nations as a key principle of his new religion. He envisioned a set of new social structures based on participation and consultation among the world's peoples, including a world legislature, an international court, and an international executive empowered to carry out the decisions of these legislative and judicial bodies. Connected principles of the Bahá'í religion include universal systems of weights and measures, currency unification, and the adoption of a global auxiliary language. The Bahá'í Faith currently counts in excess of 5 million members spread across the globe.
Following the U.S. experiment, Switzerland (1848) and Canada (1867) formed the first multi-national federations, uniting distinct ethnic/cultural/lingual regions under a common government.
Ulysses S. Grant commented, "I believe at some future day, the nations of the earth will agree on some sort of congress which will take cognizance of international questions of difficulty and whose decisions will be as binding as the decisions of the Supreme Court are upon us"[1]
International Peace Congresses were held in Europe every two years starting in 1843, but lost their momentum after 1853 due to the renewed outbreak of wars in Europe (Crimea) and North America (U.S. Civil War). International organizations started forming in the late 19th century -- the International Red Cross in 1863, the Telegraphic Union in 1865 and the Universal Postal Union in 1874. The increase in international trade at the turn of the 20th century accelerated the formation of international organizations, and, by the start of World War I in 1914, there were approximately 450 of them. Support for the idea of establishing international law grew during that period as well. The Institute of International Law was formed in 1873 by the Belgian Jurist Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns, leading to the creation of concrete legal drafts, for example by the Swiss Johaan Bluntschli in 1866. In 1883, James Lorimer published "The Institutes of the Law of Nations" in which he explored the idea of a world government establishing the global rule of law. The first embryonic world parliament, called the Inter-Parliamentary Union, was organized in 1886 by Cremer and Passy, composed of legislators from many countries. In 1904 the Union formally proposed "an international congress which should meet periodically to discuss international questions".
Previous Attempts
It should also be noted that World Governments are not just democracies and over Human history there have been many 'World Governments' which were empires or dictatorships. Famous examples are of course Alexander the Great and his empire, the Mongol Empire and the British Empire which all encompassed excessively large amounts of the known world and in the case of the British a 1/4 of the world's surface. This is the single closest time that the world has come to a total political unification.
Since then, unsuccessful attempts were made throughout the first half of the 20th century to establish global institutions to resolve international disputes peacefully, or, when these fail, to establish laws in the conduct of wars between nations. The most remarkable ones include the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, which failed to prevent World War I, and the League of Nations (1919-1938), which failed to prevent World War II.
Post-World War II
World War II (WW2), 1939-1945, resulted in an unprecedented scale of destruction of lives (55 million dead, most of them civilians), and the availability of city-destroying atomic weaponry. Some of the acts committed against civilians during the war were on such a massive scale of savagery, they came to be widely considered as crimes against humanity itself. As the war's conclusion drew near, many shocked voices called for the establishment of institutions able to permanently prevent deadly international conflicts. This led to the founding of the United Nations in 1945, which adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Many, however, felt that the UN, essentially a forum for discussion and coordination between sovereign governments, was insufficiently empowered for the task. A number of prominent persons, such as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Bertrand Russell and Mahatma Gandhi, called on governments to proceed further by taking gradual steps towards forming an effectual federal world government.
"The Golden Age"
The years between the conclusion of WW2 and 1950, when the Korean War started and the Cold War mindset became dominant in international politics, were the "golden age" of the world federalism movement. Wendell Wilkie's book "One World", first published in 1943, sold over 2 million copies. Another book, Emery Reves' "The Anatomy of Peace" (1945) laid out the arguments for replacing the UN with a federal world government and quickly became the "bible" of world federalists. The grassroots world federalist movement in the US, led by people such as Grenville Clark, Norman Cousins, Alan Cranston and Robert Hutchins, organized itself into increasingly larger structures, finally forming, in 1947, the United World Federalists (later renamed to World Federalist Association, then Citizens for Global Solutions), claiming membership of 47,000 in 1949.
Similar movements concurrently formed in many other countries, leading to the formation, at a 1947 meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, of a global coalition, now called World Federalist Movement. By 1950, the movement claimed 56 member groups in 22 countries, with some 156,000 members. In France, 1948, Garry Davis began an unauthorized speech calling for a WG from the balcony of the UN General Assembly, until he was dragged away by the guards. Mr. Davis renounced his American citizenship and started a Registry of World Citizens, which claimed to have registered over 750,000 people in less than two years. Opinion polls carried out by UNESCO in 1948-1949 found world government favored by a majority of respondents in six European countries and rejected in three other countries (Australia, Mexico and the United States). On September 4, 1953, Davis, from the City Hall of Ellsworth, Maine, announced the formation of the "World Government of World Citizens" based on 3 "World Laws" — One God (or Absolute Value), One World, and One Humanity. (See www.worldservice.org/ells.html). Following this declaration mandated he claimed by article 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he formed the United World Service Authority in New York city as the administratrive agency of the new government. Its first task was to design and issue a "World Passport" based on article 13(2) of the UDHR. To date, over 800,000 of these documents have been issued to individuals worldwide. They have been recognized de facto by over 150 countries.
1950 - Present
While enthusiasm for multinational federalism in Europe incrementally led, over the following decades, to the formation of the European Union, the onset of the Cold War (1950-1990) eliminated the prospects of any progress towards federation with a more global scope. The movement quickly shrunk in size to a much smaller core of activists, and the FWG idea all but disappeared from wide public discourse.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, interest in a federal world government and, more generally, in the global protection of human rights, was renewed. The most visible achievement of the world federalism movement during the 1990s is the Rome Statute of 1998, which led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court in 2002. In Europe, progress towards forming a federal union of European states gained much momentum, starting in 1952 as a trade deal between the German and French people lead, in 1992, to the Maastricht Treaty that established the name and enlarged the agreement that the European Union (EU) is based upon. The EU expanded (1995, 2004) to encompass, in 2005, 450 million people in 25 member states. Following EU's example, the African Union was founded in 2002 and the South American Community of Nations in 2004.
Existing regional unions of nations
The most relevant model for the incremental establishment of a global federation may be the European Union, which politically unites a large group of widely diverse, some formerly hostile, nations spread over a large geographical area. The EU, which is still evolving, already has many attributes of a federal government, such as open internal borders, a directly elected parliament, a court system and a centralized economic policy.
The EU's lead is being followed by the African Union, the South American Community of Nations, the Central American Parliament, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A multitude of regional associations, aggregating most nations of the world, are at different stages of development towards a growing extent of economic, and sometimes political, integration.
The formation of Continental Nations might hinder global governance from evolving or could promote global integration.
The African Union
The African Union (AU) is an organisation consisting of fifty-three African states. Established in 2001, the AU was formed as a successor to the amalgamated African Economic Community (AEC) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Eventually, the AU aims to have a single currency and a single integrated defence force, as well as other institutions of state, including a cabinet for the AU Head of State. The purpose of the union is to help secure Africa's democracy, human rights, and a sustainable economy, especially by bringing an end to intra-African conflict and creating an effective common market.
ASEAN
ASEAN, pronounced /'ɑ.si.ɑn/ ("AH-SEE-AHN") in English, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand[1] as a display of solidarity against communist expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders. Its aims include the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, and the promotion of regional peace.[2]
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization which was founded on June 14, 2001 by the leaders of the People's Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.Though not a Military Alliance, many have looked at this organization as a counter to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Central American Parliament
The current global governance system
The United Nations (UN) is the primary formal organization coordinating activities between states on a global scale and the only inter-governmental organization with a truly universal membership (192 governments). In addition to the main organs and various humanitarian programs and commissions of the UN itself, there are about 20 functional organizations affiliated with the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), such as the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, and International Telecommunications Union (chart). Of particular interest politically are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were formed together in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, 1944, to foster global monetary cooperation and to fight poverty by financially assisting states in need. The World Trade Organization (WTO) sets the rules of international trade. It already has a semi-legislative body (The General Council, reaching decisions by consensus), and a judicial body (The Dispute Settlement Body). Another influential economical international organization is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with membership of 30 democratic members.
A less formal organization, but highly influential in global politics, is G8, an association of eight of the richest and most technologically advanced democracies. The leaders of the G8 countries meet annually in person to coordinate their policies in confronting global issues, such as poverty, terrorism, infectious diseases and climate change.
Militarily, the UN deploys peacekeeping forces, usually to build and maintain post-conflict peace and stability. When a more aggressive international military action is undertaken, either ad-hoc coalitions (eg, multinational force in Iraq), or regional military alliances (eg, NATO) are used.
International law encompasses international treaties, customs, and globally acceptable legal principles. With the exceptions of cases brought before the ICC and ICJ (see below), the laws are interpreted by national courts. Many violations of treaty or customary law obligations are overlooked.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) (also known as World Court) is the judiciary organ of the United Nations. It settles disputes submitted to it voluntarily by states (only), and gives advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by other organs of the UN, such as the General Assembly or Security Council.
A recent development in international law is the International Criminal Court (ICC), the first ever permanent international criminal court, which was established to ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished. The ICC treaty was signed by 139 national governments, of which 100 ratified it into law by October 2005.
In addition to the formal, or semi-formal, international organizations and laws mentioned above, many other mechanisms act to regulate human activities across national borders. In particular, international trade in goods, services and currencies (the "global market") has a tremendous impact on the lives of people in almost all parts of the world, creating deep interdependency amongst nations (see globalization). Trans-national (or multi-national) corporations, some with resources exceeding those available to most governments, govern activities of people on a global scale. The rapid increase in the volume of trans-border digital communications and mass-media distribution (eg, Internet, satellite television) has allowed information, ideas, and opinions to rapidly spread across the world, creating a complex web of international coordination and influence, mostly outside the control of any formal organizations or laws.
Commonly cited deficiencies
- Enforcement powers of most of the above-cited supra-national governments (with the exception of the EU) are quite weak. Most of the supra-national governments are governments in name only, and have little ability to enforce any dictates.
- International mechanisms for protecting basic human rights, or even preventing wide-scale atrocities, are weak and inadequate.
- While trade and finance treaties are mostly well enforced, agreements on social, human and ecological issues have very limited effect.
- Poor populations, especially in Africa, do not much benefit from, nor contribute to, the modern world economy.
- There are many overlapping, sometimes conflicting and confusing, international treaties and jurisdictions.
Resources
Published works
- The Politics of World Federation by Joseph P. Baratta presents a history of the practical, political efforts to establish a federal world government. Its introduction is available on line.
- The on-line book A Global Parliament - Principles of World Federation, written as a textbook for a course on the subject of federal world government, provides an overview with emphasis on the EU and its history as a practical precedent.
- Manifesto for a New World Order by George Monbiot proposes a road-map towards global democracy.
- Taking Democracy Global: Assessing the Benefits and Challenges of a Global Parliamentary Assembly.
- The on-line book A Better Globalization: Legitimacy, Governance, and Reform discusses needed changes to the current world governance system.
- The GTI Paper Seriesexamines the potential for the emergence of democratic global governance, see paper #3, Global Politics and Institutions
Organizations
- World Federalist Movement (WFM) is a global citizens movement with 23 member and 16 associated organizations around the globe working towards the establishment of a federated world government. The U.S. member organization is Citizens for Global Solutions, and the Canadian one is World Federalist Movement - Canada
- The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is a well-funded research and education center in Canada dedicated to the subject. It is preparing to launch IGLOO: "a global online research community focused solely on strengthening governance around the world."
- One World Trust (OWT) is a charity based in the United Kingdom and part of the World Federalist Movement. Its current work aims to promote reforms of existing global organizations leading to greater accountability.
- Center for the Study of Global Governance is a UK-based "focal point for research, teaching and dissemination of work on globalisation"
- Civitatis International is a Non Governmental Organization based in the UK that produces legal research promoting increased systems of global governance to policymakers.
- The Committee for a Democratic UN is a network of parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations from Germany, Switzerland and Austria which is based on world federalist philosophy
- Democratic World Federalists (DWF) a San-Francisco-based civil society organization with supporters worldwide, advocates a democratic federal system of world government.
Websites
- Homepage of Garry Davis - Garry Davis was arguably the first prominent proponent of a world government after World War II.
- Worldgov.info is a discussion forum for people interested in exchanging information and ideas related to world governance. Its Favorite links and resources post contains an extensive annotated list of links to world-governance-related sites.
- World Beyond Borders is devoted to human unity, world citizenship and global government.
- Illuminati News Wes Penre's giant database on World Government, The New World Order and the Illuminati.
See also
- Anti-nationalism
- Conspiracy theory
- Cosmopolitanism
- Democratic globalization
- Ethicism
- Federalism
- Global Citizens Movement
- Global Justice
- Globalization
- Humanism
- Illuminati
- Internationalism (politics)
- International organization
- International auxiliary language
- Isocracy
- League of Nations
- Lunar government
- Millennialism
- New World Order (conspiracy)
- Pax Americana
- Planetary Phase of Civilization
- Supranationalism
- Trade bloc
- World citizen
- World domination
- World Federalist Movement
- World Service Authority
- World Union
- World government in science fiction
External links
- History the World's National Governments
- openDemocracy.net is an online global magazine of politics and culture, including discussion forums, with large sections dedicated to global governance
- Organization for a World government Project for a world democracy
- Immanuel Kant: "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (English translation of "Zum ewigen Frieden")
- ^ Bankok Declaration. Wikisource. Retrieved March 14, 2007
- ^ Overview, ASEAN Secretariat official website. Retrieved June 12, 2006