Environment and Sustainable Development - United Nations ...

promotion underscores the policies and activities of many
individual states, regional organizations, global
organizations, regional and global legal regimes, and
NGOs.
The United Nations has a unique role in the promotion,
assistance and facilitation of democracy. The recent
experience of Afghanistan was a fateful example of how
corrupt, unstable, ineffective and repressive governance
can create a breeding ground for violent grievance and
terrorism, the effects of which can adversely impact
international peace and security. The promotion of
democratization, therefore, must now also be seen as a part
of the UN’s wider role in international peace and security.
The UNU Peace and Governance Programme, in
cooperation with the Centre for Democratic Institutions of
the Australian National University, is conducting a project
that examines the UN’s assistance in democratic transition
and consolidation. The project places particular emphasis
on post-conflict societies and cases of major current
concern, including Kosovo, East Timor and Afghanistan.
Historical perspective is provided by examining earlier
cases that continue to hold relevance for UN activities,
such as Cambodia, Haiti and Namibia. The objective of the
project is to draw forward-looking conclusions about the
impact and effectiveness of the UN in democracy
(particularly electoral) assistance, and to generate
conclusions about how the UN’s activities can better
promote sustainable democracy.
In September, project researchers met for two days at
UN Headquarters in New York to discuss papers and
findings, and to consult with UN staff members whose
work is related to the UN’s democracy assistance
activities. Among the preliminary conclusions was that,
inevitably, the ethics of intervention must be confronted.
The challenge is to achieve positive and sustainable change
without embedding external actors as an indispensable part
of the local political scene. There is a critical need,
furthermore, to work with local civil society and prepare it
to take over roles being undertaken by the external actor;
capacity building, based upon extensive local consultation,
is therefore an essential part of the UN’s work. And
because the process of democratization is ongoing, we
must be realistic about what can be achieved, and when.
As the UN is likely to be involved in this work for decades
to come, the aim of the project is to provide results that
will assist the UN in its future endeavours.
The Faultlines of International
Legitimacy
The impact of terrorism can be considered to be a defining
characteristic of current international politics. The US
threat in 2002 to launch a “preventive” war against Iraq
also tested international norms. Such events, and the issues
they entail and debates they generate, have focused
attention on the question of international legitimacy, and
the underlying notion of international politics and
international law.
The UNU Peace and Governance Programme project
on “Faultlines of International Legitimacy” seeks to
answer some very basic questions: “What is international
legitimacy” “What are its conditions” “How does the
current system of international order fulfil these
conditions” The project involves a group of scholars from
the fields of international law, international relations,
philosophy and history. The project combines critical and
constructive approaches to unveil what is at stake, both
ideologically and politically, in numerous case studies.
Among other issues, the project examines the UN Security
Council, the role of the United States regarding the
definition and undermining of international legitimacy,
gender issues as part of the international agenda, and the
cosmopolitan use of force. It also explores the venues
through which the requirements of international justice
could be honoured by the stands taken on the issue of
international legitimacy. The project’s second workshop
meeting was held in May in Tokyo, and preparation of a
project manuscript is underway.
Behind the Structures of Global
Governance
Ideas as well as institutions underpin the shaping of global
governance. While the space for ideas about global
governance seemingly has opened up in the post-Cold War
years, little attention has been paid to the process of where
and how these ideas arose, or how they come to influence
contemporary public policy. In parallel fashion, institutions
must be considered not only for their structural
manifestations but also as conduits for ideas. Without the
development of flexible and often informal institutions, no
bridge exists for linking new ways of thinking or new
paradigms with action.
The rationale underlying the “Ideas-Institutional
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