UNITED NATIONS AND

CONTEMPOARARY GLOBAL
GOVERNANCE
OBJECTIVES

At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:

1. Define global governance
2. Identify the roles and functions of the United
Nations
3. And determine the challenges of global governance
in the 21st century
BACKGROUND

• There is no one organization that various states are

accountable to.
• No organization can militarily compel a state to obey
predetermined global rules.
• BUT
• There are regularity in state’s behavior. (They follow
global navigation routes and respect each others
territorial boundaries.
Sources of global governance

(a)States sign treaties and form organizations

(b)International NGOs (international animal
protection NGO)
(c)Powerful transnational corporations have effects
on global labor law
WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

• IOs have the power of classification.

• Example: UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) that
defines what a refugee .
• IOs have the power to fix meanings.
• Various terms like “security” or “development” need to be well-defined.

• IOs have the power to diffuse norms. They spread their ideas
across the world.
The UNITED NATIONS
THE UNITED NATIONS

• After world war II, countries that worried about

another world war began to push for a formation
of an international league.
• Primary goal is to avert another global war.
Examples:
5 active organs of the UN

• The General Assembly (GA)

• Security Council (SC)
• Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
• International Court of Justice
• Secretariat
 CARLOS P. ROMULO WAS
ELECTED UN GA PRESIDENT
1949-1950
CHALLENGES OF THE UNITED NATIONS

• THE NEED TO RESPECT STATE SOVEREIGNTY.

• THE UN IS NOT A WORLD GOVERNMENT
• IF STATES REFUSE TO COOPERATE, THE INFLUENCE
OF UN IS CIRCUMSCRIBED/ LIMITED.
Example: