THE

CONTEMPORARY
WORLD
Unit 1
Lesson #3
Global Governance &
The United Nations

Malcolm A. Sanchez
Nursing 1F
MTWThFS, 1:30PM – 3:00PM
It is obvious that
humanity faces
existential threats of
a global nature. They are global in
the sense that is not possible to deal
with them unless we resort to global
governance.
~Torbjorn Tannsjo
 What is Global Governance?

Global governance refers

to the collective actions to
establish international
institutions and norms to
cope with the causes and
consequences of adverse
supranational,
transnational problems

The leading institution in charge of global

governance today is the United Nations
 Sources of Global Governance

1) International agreements & treaties

(Geneva Convention, Convention on the
Rights of the Child, UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change)
2) International organizations (WTO,
World Bank, IMF, European Union,
ASEAN)
3) International Non-governmental
Organization (Amnesty International,
Red Cross, World Vision International,
World Organization of the Scout
Movement)
4) Loose Groupings / Fora (G7, G20,
World Economic Forum, World Wide
Web Consortium)
 International Organizations
An international organization (IO) is an
organization established by a treaty or other
instrument governed by international law and
possessing its own international legal personality.

IOs have the IOs have the IOs have the

power of power to fix power to
classification meanings diffuse norms
The United Nations

an intergovernmental organization that aims to

maintain international peace and security,
develop friendly relations among nations, achieve
international cooperation, and be a center for
harmonizing the actions of nations
 The United Nations
Purpose

1) To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective
collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and
for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to
bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice
and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or
situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
2) To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate
measures to strengthen universal peace;
3) To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an
economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and
encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
4) To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these
common ends.
 The United Nations
5 Active Organs
1. General Assembly
Main deliberative policymaking & representative organ
2. Security Council
Has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and
security
3. Economic and Social Council
Principal body for coordination & advancing the three dimensions of sustainable
development – economic, social and environmental
4. International Court of Justice
Task to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to
it by states & to give advisory opinions on legal questions
5. Secretariat
Organized along departmental lines with  department or office having a distinct
area of action and responsibility, tasked to carry out the day-to-day work of the
UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the other principal organs
 The United Nations

Major Challenges of the UN

 Limits placed upon its various organs by the

need to respect state sovereignty

 Ineffectual on issues of
security due to conflicting
interests of the P5 in the
Security Council
In closing…

Peace is not just a colored ribbon. It's more than

a wristband or a t-shirt. It's not just a donation or
a 5 K race. It's not just a folk song, or a white
dove. And peace is certainly more than a
celebrity endorsement. Peace is a fulltime job.
It's protecting civilians, overseeing elections, and
disarming ex-combatants. The UN has over
100,000 Peacekeepers on the ground, in places
others can't or won't go, doing things others
can't or won't do. Peace, like war, must be
waged.