"United" or "Nations"?

Eduardo del Buey
Foto: Afp
La Jornada Maya

Martes 9 de octubre, 2018

On September 25, 2018, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered what I consider to be a highly relevant speech to world leaders gathered for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

He began with a line that sums up our times: “Our world is suffering from a bad case of “Trust Deficit Disorder””. He went on to note that “Trust is at a breaking point”. Trust in national institutions. Trust in our leaders. Trust in multilateral institutions.

This is our reality.

Leaders who are disrupting the status quo without offering anything positive with which to replace it.

Leaders who are looking to the past for succor rather than to the future for guidance and inspiration.

Leaders who believe that nationalism can provide the answers that humanity needs to address global challenges.

In short, he seems to have summed up the future of humankind with a two-word question: “United” or “Nations”?

The U.N. Secretary-General noted some remarkable achievements that humanity has achieved during the past seventy years.

Standards for international cooperation have been established.

Rules-based trading systems are in place in order to avoid the meltdowns we saw during the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

Standards of living have increased, and hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty in many parts of the world.

While war and violence continue to exist, international cooperation has helped the world avoid a third global war.

However, Guterres underscored some of the paradoxes of our times.

“The world is more connected, yet societies are becoming more fragmented. Challenges are growing outward, while many people are turning inward. Multilateralism is under fire precisely when we need it most”.

Indeed, the rise of extreme nationalism and populism is coming at a time when we are connected as never before.

But like all tools at humankind’s disposal, connectivity is neither good nor bad.

It simply is.

And while it has allowed us to connect globally into communities of like-minded people pursuing common goals, it has also strengthened those who preach negative values to come together and seek strength in numbers.

In his speech, Secretary-General Guterres focused on two epochal challenges that we face.

One is climate change, whose effects are being witnessed daily as increasing temperatures and more violent natural phenomena are challenging humanity as never before.

The other is the rise of artificial intelligence and the challenges that this phenomenon poses for current and future generations, as people find that their jobs have been eliminated and that there is no room for them in the global economy.

Nationalist populists propose that climate change is a hoax, and that a return to past practices is a welcome option. Indeed, a number of populist nationalist leaders have focused on reversing environmental regulations aimed at improving our ability to survive this development. It is no wonder that U.S. President Donald Trump has advocated a return to coal and oil-based energy and the reduction of clean energy despite the fact that clean energy industries can contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to the global economy.

It is no wonder that populist leaders tend to ignore education and personal efforts as primary goals in achieving an equitable future for all of humanity. It is easier to get an unemployed coal miner or oil worker hoping for a return of their past obsolete jobs rather than get them to focus on improving themselves for future jobs through effort and education.

Can we change the current course and achieve the progress we need to survive?

In Guterres’s view, it is possible.

But it calls for strong and determined action by governments around the globe.

Governments must decrease and eventually end subsidies for fossil-based fuel exploration and extraction and focus on the renewable energy sources.

Education systems must train youth to engage in the economic activities of the future rather than train for those of the past.

Private industry must participate actively with governments to create an environment in which technology can be harnessed for the betterment of all, and that education and training are available as lifetime options for all.

Children must be taught to think creatively and prepare for a world in which they will have to reinvent themselves continuously.

Finally, leaders will have to take a brave stand and tell people the truth about the challenges that we all face and the options available to all of us.

Can this be done?

Guterres thinks it can.

He said that “With technology outracing institutions, cooperation between countries and among stakeholders will be crucial, including Member States, the private sector, research centres, civil society and academia. There are many mutually beneficial solutions for digital challenges. We need urgently to find the way to apply them. At the United Nations, we are harnessing technologies in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are creating innovation labs, including in my office. And in July, I established a High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, that met yesterday, and that is a dialogue platform for all key actors”.

Yet if populist and nationalist leaders continue to call into question the viability and validity of rules-based multilateral institutions and propose purely national solutions for global problems, humanity will surely lose.

It is up to multilateral institutions to improve their governance procedures and ensure that the global public is not only aware of what they are doing, but also trusts them to do it right. This calls for reform of the United Nations as a political body, greater promotion of the often-excellent work being carried out by the U.N.’s specialized agencies, and greater transparency to address concerns that democratic sovereignty is being usurped by unelected international civil servants.

Guterres’ concluding remarks ring true.

“As our late Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, once reminded us: “We share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations”. Our future rests on solidarity. We must repair broken trust. We must reinvigorate our multilateral project. And we must uphold dignity for one and for all”.

These are words to ponder seriously as we decide where we want to go and how we want to get there.

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