Why World Government Is Inevitable?
By Jay Chauhan and Raina Subharwal
Email: jaychauhan53@yahoo.ca
William Pen rightly said: “Peace requires justice; justice requires law; law
requires government, not only within nations but equally between nations."
We live in a global village where talking to one
another across continents on computer is quicker than going to your neighbour;
pollution emitted by one country can have devastating effect on another on the
same planet; and disease started in one county can be transmitted by birds and
planes to the rest of the world in a matter of few days. We can see the arrests
of lawyers in Pakistan and see the march of the priests in Myanamar (Burma ) in
a matter of minutes around the globe.
Law, order and organization began in societies like Egypt and India other places with a set of common rules that governed the society and which marked the advent of modern civilization. Later in Europe with the Code of Hammurabi foundations were laid in the concepts of democracy in ancient Greece in which ordinary people began to share in the decision making process. More modern concepts of democracy were developed in United Kingdom where citizens participated in the process of election of the parliament which made laws for the society to observe, and independent judiciary was created to adjudicate on disputes.
Most of the western world now follows these principles of democracy. This form of government is becoming universal. United States now champions the cause of democracy to establish orderly governments around the world but on a selective basis Many ex colonial countries including India have followed this path of modern democracy and have implemented the rule of law and independent judiciary to find resolution in conflicts in the society.
In democratic countries the elections are held periodically at the local municipal level, regional level, provincial and state level and then at the national level, so that the citizens can voice their concerns. We are developing supra national bodies like the European Union, African Union, ASEAN, NAFTA and the Arab League and G8 form higher levels of organization above the national governments to resolve conflicts and share common interests and in some cases conduct peace keeping missions to deal with regional ethnic and religious conflicts. All these bodies are also in the process of developing another level of government with common policies on economics, human rights and foreign policy issues and other matters.
After the second world war which involved many countries of the world , United Nations was formed which replaced the League of Nations to deal with the conflicts between nations. Currently it provides a forum for debate for all of about 196 countries of the world. UN also coordinates about 20 international agencies, including FAO and UNESCO, which helps to organize affairs of the world on issues ranging from health to social and agricultural matters and many other matters. Many peace keeping missions are maintained by joint military force created on ad hoc basis to deal with regional conflicts.
The introduction of the International Court of Justice in the recent years to deal with genocide, creates yet another part of the world government body, needed to provide a judicial arm of the world government. The security council comprised of some permanent members acts as the cabinet of the world government but is not following the majority decision of the UN assembly; but it enforces the mandate of the international governance on an adhoc basis. It does not have a permanent source of funds or military force to carry out the peace keeping and conflict resolution functions.
The fast changing world needs the United Nations to be reformed more quickly than is happening at present to preserve world order and mankind before nuclear weapons are wrongly deployed and climate change created by developed countries creates irreversible changes to earth atmosphere which is needed to preserve life on this planet.
Many of the world’s conflicts are ethnic and religious today. Democracy has not taken foothold in all countries to permit the resolution of the conflict when it arises within a country and between countries. The South African white regime was changed by economic sanctions. Pressure is being applied to Myanamar ( Burma) to free the priests and to Pakistan to restore democracy. Dictatorship of Iraq and religious theocracy of Afghanistan were toppled by adhoc decisions of western powers led by United States without sufficient consultation and agreement of the majority of the humanity of the world. The absence of full consultation with Muslim world is causing tensions in many parts of the middle east including Gaza and Palestine and Israel. Peaceful countries like India with about 6th of the world population and with a massive industrial economy are kept out of the security council and decision making process because India was just emerging from colonial status when the institutions of United Nations was being formed.
Without a world government that has ability to make law democratically and enforce it, we are heading for a disaster on the climate front. Keoto treaty for reduction of pollution of world atmosphere had to be created on a voluntary basis, and the countries that make the most pollution like the United States refused to abide by the majority of the world opinion because it has the military power not matched by any other super power at the present time.
Our ad hoc decision making process in the world is resulting in many refugees and untold suffering from ethnic and religious conflicts that can be resolved by democratic institutions established in a timely fashion in the world that have the power to carry out the decisions made.
Albert Einstein rightly said that “A world government with powers adequate to guarantee security is not a remote ideal for the distant future. It is an urgent necessity, if our civilization is to survive.”