Modernizing the United Nations System: Civil Society's Role in Moving from International Relations to Global Governance

Modernizing the United Nations system is necessary to deal with the anarchy of globalization. Significant institutional change means winners and losers in the game of power. To make the UN more competent it must have more authority, which means constraining sovereignty. Some states fear international organizations interfering in their affairs. Others want to maintain their power over parts of the UN. How can the UN system be modernized if governments are unwilling or unable to do so? This book contends that civil society must mobilize its capacities to bring a new will to national and international politics and oblige governments to act. Modernizing the United Nations System starts by demonstrating the need for institutional change at the UN and then shows how, both in the past and the present, leading individuals and non-governmental organizations, using their knowledge base and their organizational networks, have led the fight for international organizations. After a summary of major UN reform proposals over the years, the book concludes by identifying leading global reformers and elaborating a detailed plan for a global reform movement to spearhead the modernization of the UN system.