In meteorological terms, the current geopolitical world view points to hurricane force winds of a magnitude we have never seen before.
There is the deliberately misrepresented war in Ukraine, the brutal slaughter in Palestine and the civil wars in Myanmar, in the Republic of Congo, in Syria and Venezuela. Climate change-related disasters occur in Africa and the Caribbean, mafia violence dominates life in Haiti.
Something has to change! by Dr h. c. Hans-Christof von Sponeck, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Germany*
Then there is mass psychosis and fearsome and stupid populism in the United States, as well as a confused Europe that has forgotten what it promised itself in Paris in 1990 for freedom.
Deliberate disinformation and “false flag” ventures such as Nordstream 2, Bucha, Gaza and, let us not forget, rigged national elections, are constant geopolitical and criminal attempts to win the support of the citizens.
Part of this worldview is also the immense, omnipresent corruption that continues to spread and is one of the causes of the “poverty of the many”, while at the same time the “wealth of the few” is unbelievable.
The sick environment as well as nuclear armament are the great dangers for all (!) 193 member states of the United Nations!
“Things must not stay as they are” – who among us could disagree with this important statement by Günter Verheugen and Petra Erler?
Something must change indeed!
The “hope of the many” that responsibility will be spread across broader shoulders in order to achieve a fairer world order for all must not be disappointed. This hope, reaching for the stars, in no way means that our feet should not remain on the ground!
The wall of “resistance of the few” against the “hope of the many” is high, but can be overcome with the “ladder of conviction”. “Mountains separated the people, but the people climbed the mountains”, says a great Afghan proverb.
Western unilateralism has had its day
It is encouraging that new leaders from the non-Western world, not only from China, are unstoppably and successfully more and more intensively espousing a “different”, a better, world. New alliances have formed, such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Chinese Silk Road Programme and the climate change conferences. They are increasingly shaping our world order. Western unilateralism has undoubtedly had its day.
Perhaps some of you will think that I am painting a too one-sided black-and-white picture here. I assure you that this is in no way my intention. My statements reflect an actually ongoing process of change and not a final state.
With this in mind, I would like to briefly address two issues that I believe are of crucial importance for the evolving world order:
- the necessary reform of the United Nations, arguably the global institution most important for the well-being of humanity, and:
- the necessary acceptance of the universality, not only of human rights, but also of human duties.
Issue 1:
After a delay of 79 years (see Article 109 of the UN Charter), there will now be a summit conference of the UN General Assembly in New York on 22/23 September to discuss the future of the UN 1 – an important start for a new and urgently needed UN which is to fulfil its obligations to peace and security in the 21st century.
It will be a long road, with deep potholes. Western governments will initially refuse to agree to a geopolitical, geographical and structural reorganisation in the sense of equality and equivalence.
USA: military-economic power and disregard for international law
At the risk of being misunderstood, I would like to add: Five years of research have led Professor Richard Falk and me to the empirically proven conclusion that the US governments, in the interest of their global geopolitical ambitions, have always relied on their military and economic power throughout the years, without recognition of existing and binding international law. We therefore believe that this is the main cause for the turbulence in international relations and for the disappointing performance of the political UN since the last decade of the 20th century (see Richard Falk and Hans von Sponeck. Liberating the United Nations. Realism with Hope, Stanford, 2024, p. 292, para 2).
We are convinced that over time the US and other Western countries (about 8% of the world’s population!) will realise that without a willingness to compromise and converge, their locomotive will be left behind on a side-track.
UN reform must take new global realities into account
In 79 years, the list of pending UN reforms has become a long one. The most important pending reforms include:
- adapting the Security Council to today’s geopolitical and geographical realities; new major powers and permanent seats for Africa and Latin America; more seats for Asia;
- a reinterpretation of the right of veto in the Security Council;
- an expansion of the decision-making rights of the General Assembly;
- international tribunals that not only have advisory functions but are also endowed with the right to make decisions;
- greater independence and freedom of decision for the UN Secretary-General (Charter Articles 100 and 101);
- increased and secure funding for the work of the UN;
- integrated cooperation between the legislative, judicial and executive units of the United Nations with each other and with civil society.
The most difficult reform will undoubtedly be to “democratise” the UN! This will involve building trust among the nation states, especially the major powers, in order to create a selfless multilateral spirit.
This will be hard work in which civil society must play a decisive role. As the unforgettable Kofi Anan said: “People should feel with their heads and think with their hearts.” What a great guiding principle for human life!
We need a General Declaration of Human Duties
Issue 2:
Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, a great many important international human rights have been created, including the two covenants on civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights – a valuable step forward for the coexistence of all people. For many years, however, there have also been calls for “human rights” to include “human duties”.
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, there is only a rather circumspect reference to “human duties”, namely that “Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.” (Article 29).
For 47 former heads of government and heads of state, this reference was not enough, and they therefore decided to sign a draft Universal Declaration of Human Duties. One of the signatories was the Swiss Federal Councillor and several-time President of the Swiss Confederation Kurt Furgler.
A short time later, the Human Rights Commission in Geneva discussed the issue of rights and responsibilities, and the UN General Assembly in New York passed a resolution in support. Unfortunately, things have stayed the same ever since.
Neither the UN nor governments have addressed the issue since then.
The time has come to reconsider the link between human rights and human duties, and to do so with renewed vigour. The goal: to create a legal basis for the introduction of a human rights covenant. This should be decided in the UN General Assembly at the planned summit on the future of the UN and also in the two international courts.
Much, very much has to change in order to make the human world a more humane place. Not only the “others”, but all of us can make a contribution to this.
There is much more in each of us than we think! •
https://www.zeit-fragen.ch/en/archives/2024/nr-20-sonderbeilage-xxxi-kongress-mut-zur-ethik-2024-1/da-muss-sich-etwas-aendern
YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.
“It’s hard to do cartoons without symbolisms…”
Gus Leonisky
he did not say this, did he?.....
Good afternoon. And I am glad to see all you here today.
Today, 1 October 2024, is a special day not only for me personally, but also for our military alliance as a whole. The representatives of our member states have decided that I should succeed Jens Stoltenberg as Secretary General of NATO. Since time is of the essence, the danger of a world war has increased alarmingly in recent months and swift action is therefore required, I want to keep it short today, my first day in office, and openly express my plans.
Today should not be a day of continuity, but a day of change. And a day of truth. Every one of you who has his or her head on straight and still has a little human compassion knows that we have been living with the lie for more than 30 years. We publicly spoke deceptively of peace, freedom and democracy, calling ourselves a ‘defence community’, but in reality, thinking that the end justified the means and that lies were necessary to secure power and wealth in our own countries. We wanted to be accommodating towards our hegemon and assumed that we could ignore the legitimate claims of the majority of humanity.
After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, we did not end the Cold War – although the whole of humanity had longed for nothing more. Instead, we gambled away the opportunities for peace in 1990, expanded our sphere of influence without regard for the security interests of other states, and put all our eggs in the basket of the state that now defined itself as the only world power. We were servile in our service to this world power.
Today we are left with a shattered ruin.
We have not brought peace, but fear, and we have sown discord and hatred, repeatedly threatening violence – and we have not just threatened. We started or provoked wars and brought material and human misery to many states and peoples of the world. We supported fascist regimes like those in Ukraine and Israel, which, when viewed in the light of day, have nothing in common with the values that we have repeatedly proclaimed publicly but have also paid less and less attention as time went on.
We have made enemies not only of Russia and China, but of many states and peoples of the world. Instead of containing problems and conflicts and contributing to solutions, we poured oil on the fire and created chaos. The victims number in the millions, the extent of the upheaval and destruction is gigantic. To tell the truth, we became a criminal organisation.
As a result, we are very, very far from peace and justice in the world today – and we, above all, are responsible for this.
We cannot go on like this. Peace is the order of the day. My taking office should be a signal of change. I know I will meet with opposition – not from the vast majority of people in our countries or elsewhere in the world, but from the few who blindly want to stick to the old course – and unfortunately still have a lot of power and influence. But that should not stop me. I, we all live better with the truth.
One of my first acts in office will be to initiate an international peace conference. Representatives of all the world’s nations will be able to participate, and each nation will have the same right to speak and vote. We will present belligerent governments, such as those of Ukraine and Israel, with the alternative of making peace with their neighbours or losing all support immediately. For example, no more weapons for Ukraine and Israel. We will make honest offers of negotiations for a just international peace order based on equality and equal rights to states such as Russia, China and also the Arab world. From now on, our guiding star should be international law and the provisions of the UN Charter on peace and justice. Our hegemonic project of a ‘rules-based international order’ has failed.
And above all: the power that wanted to be the only world power and still wants to be, will have to take its place in the community of states – as equals among equals. From now on, we will no longer accept ‘exceptionalism’ and ‘indispensability’, not even within NATO.
Finally, we European NATO members will propose that NATO be dissolved in view of its questionable recent history and lack of future need.
I look forward to working with all of you, and I cannot wait to get started.
And with that, I am ready for your questions.
* * *
km. In fact, the Dutchman Mark Rutte succeeded the previous NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on 1 October 2024. He also called a press conference for that day and gave a statement at the beginning. A statement with a wording like the one formulated above and corresponding actions would have been a blessing for humanity. But it would also be a political miracle. But these are very, very rare in politics. And Mark Rutte has actually taken a completely different position – actually just like his predecessor in office. And from what we hear and read, Mark Rutte would be more of a problem than Jens Stoltenberg. Conclusion: It is highly unlikely that NATO’s current principle of force will give way to pure insight – it will most likely take a very clear “Stop!” from the other side for a change of course to occur – the forceful reality must speak. •
https://www.zeit-fragen.ch/en/archives/2024/nr-20-1-oktober-2024-4/frieden-ist-das-gebot-der-stunde
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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.
“It’s hard to do cartoons without misunderstandings…”
Gus Leonisky