Minerva, Fall 2011 - Citizens for Global Solutions

European Union and Global UnionBOOK REVIEWThe Uniting of Nations: An Essay on Global Governanceby John McClintockRonald J. GlossopOctober 2011World Federalist Institute FellowRonald J. Glossop is Professor Emeritusof Philosophy and Peace Studies atSouthern Illinois University at Edwardsvilleand author of Confronting War (4thed., 2001), among other books.The Uniting of Nations: An Essay onGlobal Governance, by John McClintock,Brussels: P.I.E. Peter Lang, 3rd ed, 2010“Nothing like a United States of Europehas ever been built before, a half-billionpeople brought together not throughconquest but by the idea of “ever closerunion”. In a way it’s an inspirationalblueprint for mankind; and so it wouldbe foolish to think it would go smoothly.Yes, the League of Nations collapsed,but it did lead to the United Nations. Theeuro may also unravel but the idea istoo good not to return in force. Betweenthe League and the UN lay catastrophe.From here to euro 2.0 is not going to bepretty.”~ Roger Cohen, London,29 November 2010The Uniting of Nations argues for the need for a governed world community and usesthe European Union as a model for how that can be accomplished. One must start withsmall steps and proceed gradually in such a way that national governments will wantto join to gain something specific for themselves. The European Union would be thenucleus and other countries could join this global political union separately, but theywould then be required to work together to form their own regional organizations.Thus eventually there would be a world federation made up of regional federations,one of which would be the European Union which initiated the new global organization.McClintock begins the book with a summary for those “who do not have time to readthe whole essay” (p. 17). The world faces many problems, problems which no countryby itself can solve and which can only get worse. The only way forward is for countriesto work together. Europe is a region of the world demonstrating how nations canshare sovereignty in order to improve both their national welfare and the welfare ofthe whole group. “What Europe has done, the world needs to do. This essay explainshow” (p. 18).The many current global problems not being handled shows that “the present systemof global governance is dysfunctional” (p. 18). The basic problem is the lack ofa sovereign governing body for the whole global community which can make andenforce laws as sovereign national governments do within countries. Just as citizensshare sovereignty in order to establish a governing body within their nations, so nationalgovernments need to share sovereignty in order to establish a governing bodyat the global level. The European Union is a good example of a governing body overnations that has both sovereign powers and political legitimacy. On the other hand, theUN’s Security Council has impressive powers on paper but not in the real world. TheUN Security Council also lacks political legitimacy because 5 countries are permanentmembers with a veto power while at any one time only 7% of the 193 countries arerepresented at all.The global community must do two things: assist the failing nation-states and “bringinto being a governing body which can act effectively at the global level” (p.23). Butthe first task itself requires “a system of global governance that works” (p. 24) andthe rules set down in the UN Charter are such that the Security Council can never bereformed. “Something new needs to be created” (p. 25). This new global organizationcould be initiated by “the European Union and around half-a-dozen or so pioneerstates” (p. 26).As was done in Europe the new global governance community could start with a fewcountries focused on a single problem like food security (p. 27) and then “a communityfor climate, energy, and prosperity” (p. 28). As the European Community was furtheredby the Zeitgeist of a united Europe, so the current Zeitgeist of globalism can supportthe creation of a Global Union. Perhaps future historians will see the European Unionas an experiment in sharing sovereignty by states that could be followed by the wholeworld.[continued, next page]15 • Minerva #39 • November 2011