- Proposing the Establishment of a World Coalition Government
AN OPEN LETTER SENT BY
The Second World Congress of Global Civilization Proposing to the United Nations General Assembly
A Discussion on the Establishment of a World Coalition Government
(1) The Secretariat of the Second World Congress of Global Civilization, herewith submits this open letter to the United Nations General Assembly proposing a discussion on the establishment of a World Coalition Government.
The complete structure and administration of the proposed government has been set forth by Professor Zhang Shaohua in his book, My Ideals of a World Coalition Government. Professor Zhang is the Chairman of the Organization for Promoting Global Civilization (OPGC), the organization sponsoring the Second World Congress of Global Civilization at the United Nations Plaza in New York from November 14-16, 2005.
(2) The First World Congress of Global Civilization was held from July 16-18, 2001 in Sydney, Australia. The Congress adopted a resolution promoting the spirit of “Global Civilization” encompassing religious, cultural and political cooperation. In its “Manifesto of Global Civilization,” the Congress tried to create what was described as “a guidepost for mankind at the crossroads of an era of globalization.” After the September 11th terrorist attack against the United States, Professor Zhang proposed to the international community that the day should be officially remembered as “Global Civilization Day” to emphasize the urgent need for world peace in a world still dominated by political, religious and cultural conflicts. However, the alarm was not heard. Soon after the attack, the United States and Britain led the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and then against Iraq. After the Iraq war was officially declared over, a series of attacks erupted in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, India, Pakistan, Morocco and Indonesia. These attacks were aimed at local and foreign governments, political leaders, military forces, and even religious targets. The people of the world are concerned that these attacks will become more frequent, indiscriminate, and destructive, causing more international turmoil.
In the first years of this new century, such sinister developments in the international political arena are a stark reminder of the violent conflicts of the last century. Humankind is on the verge of repeating this tragic history. The Second World Congress of Global Civilization proposes this open letter before the United Nations General Assembly in an attempt to encourage a break with humanity’s pernicious past. It is hoped that this new idea for cooperation in world governance will serve as a guideline for our future international political development.
(3) In light of our multi-polar world and ever increasing global integration, people of the world should rethink the meaning of such traditional terms as “nation,” “race,” “religion” and “culture.” How will people in the global village balance the traditional idea of national sovereignty and the reality of globalization? How will they balance the interests of a single nation against the welfare of all human beings? The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, stated the dilemma in his Millennium Report, “Simply put, our post-war institutions were built for an inter-national world, but we now live in a global world. Responding effectively to this shift is the core institutional challenge for world leaders today.”
The most pressing issue for humankind is to have the fortitude to embrace the emergence of this “global world.” We can work towards this spirit of “Global Civilization” only through a governing entity, which can objectively look at the world’s problems. OPGC has set forth in this open letter a proposal for just such an entity. Motivated by the ideals set forth in this open letter, OPGC has decided to feature the topic of “World Coalition Government” at the top of its agenda for its upcoming Second World Congress.
(4) Concepts such as a world coalition government have a distinguished history. After the end of World War II, this idea was formulated by a group of world-renowned scientists and scholars, such as, Albert Einstein, and the celebrated historian, Arnold Toynbee. Their inspiration grew out of concern over the atomic bombing of Japan and its dark portent for the future. Their motives were to safeguard world peace by putting nuclear weapons under strict international control and to remedy the drawbacks intrinsic to the system of the United Nations, so it could better cope with the world’s problems.
In his political essay, “Towards a World Government,” Albert Einstein noted, “A world government must be created which is able to solve conflicts between nations by judicial decision. This government must be based on a clearcut constitution which is approved by the governments and nations and which give them sole disposition of offensive weapons.” Furthermore, in his 1947 commentary on the United Nations, titled “An Open Letter to the General Assembly of the United Nations,” Einstein stated, “As long as there is a conflict of authority between the Assembly and the Security Council, the effectiveness of the whole institution will remain necessarily impaired... The method of representation at the United Nations should be considerably modified. The present method of selection by government appointment does not leave any real freedom to the appointee. Furthermore, selection by governments cannot give the peoples of the world the feeling of being fairly and proportionately represented.”
However, the prophetic insight of Einstein and his colleagues was lost on the international community due to the immense post war reconstruction effort that was a priority for most countries.
(5) In response to Secretary General Kofi Annan’s repeated calls for “renewing the United Nations,” OPGC has taken the initiative in appealing for the establishment of a World Coalition Government that will differ from the United Nations both in its nature and in its organization. In the OPGC proposal, the United Nations will continue to exist, emerging as the World Coalition Parliament, exercising legislative power while the prospective World Coalition Government will be the highest executive body.
Aspiring to prevent further devastating wars from occurring, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Chiang Kei-sheik and other leaders worked together to create the United Nations sixty years ago. They were strategically farsighted, politically sagacious, profoundly humane, and unusually tactful in establishing an international organization that has been performing great works in the six decades since its foundation.
However, the last sixty years have proven the problematic aspects of the United Nations as pointed out by Einstein. Even at its best, the United Nations has been acting merely as an international forum or contenting itself with playing the role of a mediator. This stems from the fact that the United Nations has never been granted supreme political or military authority, nor entitled to generate independent revenue. It also lacks a series of ordinances supported by all national governments, including ordinances to regulate the conduct of member states, leaders of nations, political parties and military forces. Since the United Nations is not a sovereign entity, nor a real federation of states, it cannot act as a supranational entity even though it has been called on to resolve global issues such as ethnic, state and religious conflicts, government oppression and sustainable use of natural resources. International politics continue to be dominated by the imbalance of power that exists between large and small countries; and between powerful and weak nations. “The strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept,” is still as true today as it was 2,500 years ago when Thucydides wrote it.
Contrary to the current United Nations, the World Coalition Government would be vested with the full spectrum of authority and power that duly belongs to a supranational government. Moreover, it would be structurally different from any other federation that has ever existed.
In recent centuries, the world witnessed the emergence of three categories of political federation. The first category is a federal system characterized by an assembly of individual states, such as the United States and the Russian Federation where the central government operated as the highest authority. The second category was characterized by a bloc of nations that united with the goal of becoming more prosperous as a group while remaining individual sovereignties, such as the European Union. The third category of federation provides a meeting platform where nation-states are able to work together on issues and resolve differences peacefully, such as the United Nations.
However, all three types of government have limitations. The United States has incurred difficulties in resolving disputes between state and federal authority. The European Union went through decades of internal strife before it officially emerged. Nevertheless the member states believed that entering such a federation was beneficial and thus sought to be included. As for the United Nations, many member states simply treat it as a “rubber stamp.”
There are two explanations for the different outcomes of these three forms of federation. The success of a federation is directly dependent on, first the manner in which nations within the federation are allied with each other, and second the long-term goals and purposes of the federation beyond the initial utilitarian reason for its founding.
Upon their inception, each of the three categories of federation specified above were simply means for coping with immediate needs. The majority of these federations were ad hoc at the beginning and were markedly deficient in the soundness of their philosophical groundwork. While they served the purposes they were initially designed for, they had various degrees of political underdevelopment to be considered a “supranational entities” as demonstrated by their severe organizational difficulties.
The structure of the World Coalition Government conceptualized by OPGC is different, since it incorporates the best of all three federations. World Coalition Government will be endowed with the centralized power to exercise political authority over all state governments. It will guarantee political independence to all state governments in the world in the same way as the European Union. Finally, it will provide the platform to promote cooperative political interaction between state governments that is unique to the United Nations. The relationship between the World Coalition Government and the state governments under its jurisdiction will be both hierarchical and mutually supervisory. Under normal circumstances they will interact on a consultative basis. In emergencies however, the state governments will be obligated to comply with the World Coalition’s political authority.
(6) Theory analysis tells us we are human because, as Aristotle asserts, we are political animals. This political nature has caused the development of nationalism and ethnocentrism, and thus we have a sense of responsibility to do whatever it takes for the sake of our nation. We have a sense of honor propelling us to do both good and evil in the name of patriotism. We hold a sense of gratitude in our right hand and a sense of hatred in the left. We have a way of organizing ourselves so that we seek similarity, while attacking what is different. We have the courage to be a hero as well as a killer. We have the knowledge to make machines; machines that improve lives in the morning and machine guns that destroy lives in the afternoon – for the sake of our nation and state.
In addition, traditional ideas such as “nationalism,” “religious zeal,” and “cultural acceptance” that are held in high esteem contribute to this duality. In this rapidly changing world, these conventional concepts are the origin of many conflicts.
The proposed World Coalition Government promotes global thinking instead of nationalism, and offers all people the opportunity to come together as one human family. Only under the rubric of such a global government will nations and leaders be motivated to work towards global harmony instead of national interests. Only then will nations and political parties be transformed into key entities with the means for promoting global welfare, improving the environment and achieving world peace.
(7) Today we are faced with a reality that is dominated by globalization and characterized by highly technological advancements in every aspect of life. It is also a time of increasing military mobilization by governments, and increasing developments in powerful weaponry. In a world ruled by the power of the gun, filled with historical prejudice and hatred and where countries covet other countries’ resources, no one nation is really safe and no defense system is ultimately effective. It is inevitable that in such a world, no government would conduct itself altruistically and no individual would work unselfishly.
(8) History has proven that whenever people organize into a larger political entity, from a tribe to a nation-state and then to a federation, the political reorganization helps to prevent internecine wars and acts as a catalyst towards greater unity. History is now pushing us into a global village where there is no one religion, country or federation that is capable of single-handedly resolving wars, ethnic tensions, preventing terrorism, dissemination of nihilistic hatred or eliminating the sources of inequality among nations and people. In such a time in history, we believe that the establishment of a world coalition government is the only alternative promising true peace and security for all nations, and cooperation amongst them.
Only the World Coalition Government proposal has the ability to guarantee that the prospective “World Coalition Parliament,” its prototype being the United Nations of today, be vested with the authority over the world that needs the assurance of peace and harmony for humanity. It is equally clear that only such a global structure has the ability to spare the world from disasters brought about by the short-sighted policies of governments, and unwarranted military aggression. Only such a global entity can possess the necessary means to ensure that the resources of weak countries are protected from the avarice of more powerful neighbors.
(9) History is the best teacher for humankind. History has been pointing towards one right direction but providing a myriad of wrong choices for humans so we can learn and grow from our mistakes and struggles. Whenever we have come to a precarious period in history and have not realized the gravity of the situation, then destiny saved us from ourselves and directed us to the right path at the crucial moment. The trend of history has been a journey from tribal society to nation-state then to multi-national federations such as the European Union and the United Nations. The apex of humankind would be a final progression to a world government.
Political leaders should learn from history. During the era of tribal societies when people were isolated, the advancement of the society depended upon the wisdom of its leaders. Even during the era of nation-states when technology was still in its infancy, the advancement of the state relied on its heads of state. However, in the era of globalization and instant information where people can share knowledge from every corner of the earth, it is nearly impossible for any nation to remain in isolation anymore. Our leaders have yet to demonstrate the capability to adjust to the speed of this rapidly changing world. Today, the question of establishing an evolved system of world government is a test for the political wisdom of our leaders. It is a test for the real faith of religious leaders. It is also a test of ethical standards for scholars around the world. Whenever history comes to a point that calls upon the courage and responsibility of those leaders to decide our destiny, any hesitation is an excuse, any such excuse is a crime, any such crime will only harm the well-being of every world citizen. Similarly, any form of self-interest is an obstacle that could make humankind lose a great historical opportunity to step into a brighter future.
OPGC is proposing four principles that express the hope and desire for global citizens:
• Consider progressive ideas from all schools of thought
• Understand cultural differences from a holistic perspective of humanity
• Act in the interest of global well-being rather than for regional interests
• Resolve conflicts through common principles and sense of justice.
(10) It is the right time to engage in this vital discussion and present a serious proposal to the United Nations.
The time is right, because each of us can only have one life, yet the number of weapons of mass destruction on earth today can kill six billion people sixty times. The time is right when powerful nations display their might with new weapon systems year after year. The time is right when undeveloped countries endlessly fight civil wars while falling deeper into poverty. The time is right when countries ruled by dictators praise themselves on their democratic achievements. The time is right when on the one hand, many conflicts can be resolved with the creation of the European Union and the African Union, yet on the other hand, new global competitions with fresh conflicts are also created. The time is right, when science and technology lead us into the space, information, and clone age, yet global politics are dominated by outdated policies. In 1789, “The Declaration of Rights of Man” of the National Constituent Assembly in France quoted Confucius when it stated, “do not impose on others what you yourself would not want imposed upon you.” But in today’s global political landscape, this famous maxim has been changed to its antithesis, “impose onto others what you, yourself do not want imposed upon you.” The time is right, for the well-being of humanity, for the hope of the world, for the birth of a new civilization, for the marching progress of history. The time is now, here, today, history is calling upon you to act with your vote.
(11) As this open letter draws to a close, we would like to pay homage once more to Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States and one of the founders of the United Nations. He tragically died two months before the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations, but on the last day of his life he wrote a message to guide us in our future endeavors when plagued with doubt, “The only obstacle to realizing the goals we set for tomorrow is the suspicion attached to today. So let us just march on firmly in aspiring confidence.”
Thank you.
Delegates of Second World Congress of Global Civilization
November 14-16, 2005
