The United Nations and Globalization: Patterns and Limits of Institutional Adaptation

Global Governance

Volumn 9, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 301-321

  Ruggie, John Gerard ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0141462841     PISSN: 10752846     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/19426720-00903005     Document Type: Review

References (54)

1. See, for example, Report of the Secretary-General, "Role of the United Nations in Promoting Development in the Context of Globalization and Interdependence," A/54/358 (15 September 1999), and the subsequent General Assembly resolution 54/231 (22 December 1999).
2. John W. Holmes, The Shaping of Peace (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979).
3. Craig Alan Wilson, "Rehearsal for a United Nations: The Hot Springs Conference," Diplomatic History 4, no. 3 (1980): 263-281, documents Roosevelt's strategy in the area of agriculture. More broadly, see Anne-Marie Burley (Slaughter), "Regulating the World: Multilateralism, International Law and the Projection of the New Deal Regulatory State," in John Gerard Ruggie, ed., Multilateralism Matters (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993).
4. Craig Alan Wilson, "Rehearsal for a United Nations: The Hot Springs Conference," Diplomatic History 4, no. 3 (1980): 263-281, documents Roosevelt's strategy in the area of agriculture. More broadly, see Anne-Marie Burley (Slaughter), "Regulating the World: Multilateralism, International Law and the Projection of the New Deal Regulatory State," in John Gerard Ruggie, ed., Multilateralism Matters (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993).
5. Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform, UN Doc. A/51/950 (14 July 1997, par. 89).
6. Maurice Strong, who advised Annan on reform during the first few months of his administration, had floated the idea in the press. A UN Development Group ultimately was established, but without affecting the budgetary or governance autonomy of the UN Program and Funds, such as UNDP, UNICEF, and WFP. Strong's original concept never encompassed the specialized agencies.
7. See also Jean-Philippe Thérien, "The Politics of Development: Towards a New Grand Compromise?" paper presented at the conference "Global Governance: Towards a New Grand Compromise?" University of Toronto, 29 May 2002.
8. Branislav Gosovic and John Gerard Ruggie, "On the Creation of a New International Economic Order," International Organization 30, no. 2 (1976): 309-345.
9. This evolution began almost immediately in the life of the IMF, but it accelerated after the industrialized countries ceased to utilize it for their own financing needs. John Gerard Ruggie, "International Regimes, Transactions and Change: Embedded Liberalism in the Postwar Economic Order," International Organization 36, no. 2 (1982): 357-378. For a recent critique, see Joseph E. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents (New York: W. W. Norton, 2002).
10. This evolution began almost immediately in the life of the IMF, but it accelerated after the industrialized countries ceased to utilize it for their own financing needs. John Gerard Ruggie, "International Regimes, Transactions and Change: Embedded Liberalism in the Postwar Economic Order," International Organization 36, no. 2 (1982): 357-378. For a recent critique, see Joseph E. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents (New York: W. W. Norton, 2002).
11. A/Res/52/2 (18 September 2000).
12. "Working for a Better Globalization," remarks by Horst Köhler at the Conference on Humanizing the Global Economy, Washington, D.C., 28 January 2002.
13. Kofi A. Annan, We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century (New York: United Nations, 2000), p. 6.
14. Some of these views are expressed in a joint statement by the heads of the IMF, OECD, UN, and World Bank, A Better World for All (Washington, 2000). Public-private partnerships were endorsed in General Assembly Res. A/56/76 (24 January 2002), Annan was rebuked by antiglobalization activist groups and some nongovernmental organizations for signing on to A Better World for All; the World Council of Churches, for one, sent an open letter accusing him of selling out the United Nations. Subsequent developments have quieted down such criticism.
15. The ILO's director-general, Juan Somavia, has been particularly articulate in stressing the broader social dimensions of globalization; see, for example, "Decent Work for All in a Global Economy," address to the staff of the World Bank, 2 March 2000.
16. UNDP, "MDGs Chart," 2001; based on Report of the Secretary-General, "Road Map Towards the Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration," A/56/326 (6 September 2001).
17. Annan, We the Peoples, p. 6.
18. Renewing the United Nations, par. 91. Annan's intention all along was to fix some obvious organizational and managerial deficiencies in 1997, concentrating on those that were under his direct control; to use the Millennium Summit as an occasion to get governments to endorse substantive and results-oriented priorities; and then to follow up with another round of institutional reforms, including the intergovernmental machinery, to better align the United Nations behind the new priorities. The last was initiated in the fall of 2002: Report of the Secretary-General, "Strengthening of the United Nations: An Agenda for Further Change," A/57/387 (9 September 2002).
19. Renewing the United Nations, par. 91. Annan's intention all along was to fix some obvious organizational and managerial deficiencies in 1997, concentrating on those that were under his direct control; to use the Millennium Summit as an occasion to get governments to endorse substantive and results-oriented priorities; and then to follow up with another round of institutional reforms, including the intergovernmental machinery, to better align the United Nations behind the new priorities. The last was initiated in the fall of 2002: Report of the Secretary-General, "Strengthening of the United Nations: An Agenda for Further Change," A/57/387 (9 September 2002).
20. "United Nations Millennium Declaration," A/RES/55/2 (18 September 2000). Some of the goals had been endorsed at earlier UN conferences, while others were new. But never before had a comprehensive set of specific targets been adopted by heads of state and government.
21. "The United Nations and the MDGs: A Core Strategy," UNDP, 7 June 2002.
22. The Millennium Project draws on the model of the recent Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, convened by Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of the World Health Organization, and chaired by Jeffrey Sachs, who has become special adviser to the UN secretary-general for the MDGs. See Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development, Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (Geneva: World Health Organization, 2001).
23. James Wolfensohn, "Ending the Unilateral Approach to Aid," Financial Times, 26 September 2002, p. 13. According to Wolfensohn, "Today, there are more than 63,000 aid projects under way in the developing world, often with different procurement policies, different evaluation standards and different environmental and social standards. . . . This fragmentation of donor's efforts has long plagued the effectiveness of aid. Many of the failures blamed on borrowing countries in fact represent the failure of donors to coordinate their efforts."
24. The UNDAFs were part of the 1997 reform initiative and have been lauded by the United States General Accounting Office as one of its real achievements.
25. Cited in a discussion of the problems of country-level coordination at an ACC/CEP retreat in April 2001.
26. Annan, We the Peoples, p. 32; "Report of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Information and Communication Technology," A/55/75-E/2000/55 (22 May 2000), p. 4.
27. Annan, We the Peoples, p. 32; "Report of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Information and Communication Technology," A/55/75-E/2000/55 (22 May 2000), p. 4.
28. The summit will take place in two phases. The first, hosted by Switzerland in December 2003, will focus on the overall challenges of the technological and social transformations captured under the rubric "the information society"; the second, to be held in Tunisia in 2005, will concern itself specifically with the implications for development. See www.itu.int/wsis.html.
29. For detailed descriptions of the task force and its work plan, see www.unicttaskforce.org.
30. For example, in 2000, WebMD undertook to provide content and lead the effort to supply the hardware, access, and training required to establish 10, 000 on-line sites for medical information in developing country public health facilities and clinics; that was before its stock price plummeted to 10 percent of its prior value and the commitment had to be withdrawn. Other such partnerships, as with Swedish telecom equipment provider L. M. Ericsson, have continued, though at a slower pace.
31. Kofi A. Annan, "A Compact for the New Century," address to the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 31 January 1999 (SG/SM/6881/ Rev.1). Up-to-date information on the Global Compact and its activities may be found at www.unglobalcompact.org.
32. The nine principles are support and respect for the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; noncomplicity in human rights abuses; freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor; the effective abolition of child labor; the elimination of discrimination with respect to employment and occupation; a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; greater environmental responsibility; and encouragement of the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
33. Surprisingly little systematic research has been done on this question, in contrast to the hefty volume of rhetoric it has generated. For a careful study in the environmental area, see Ronie Garcia-Johnson, Exporting Environmentalism: U.S. Multinational Chemical Corporations in Brazil and Mexico (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000).
34. The logic of this argument is elaborated in John Gerard Ruggie, "Taking Embedded Liberalism Global: The Corporate Connection," in David Held and Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, eds., Taming Globalization: Frontiers of Governance (Cambridge, England: Polity Press, 2003).
35. For summaries of these tool kits, consult http://www.unglobalcompact.org.
36. "Global Compact Launches Development Initiative at Summit," ibid.
37. Based on discussions with participants at numerous Global Compact events.
38. John Gerard Ruggie, "global_governance.net: The Global Compact as Learning Network," Global Governance 7, no. 4 (2001): 371-378; Ruggie, "The Theory and Practice of Learning Networks: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Global Compact," Journal of Corporate Citizenship 5 (2002): 27-35.
39. John Gerard Ruggie, "global_governance.net: The Global Compact as Learning Network," Global Governance 7, no. 4 (2001): 371-378; Ruggie, "The Theory and Practice of Learning Networks: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Global Compact," Journal of Corporate Citizenship 5 (2002): 27-35.
40. "Statoil Signs Agreement with ICEM," Europe Energy, 30 March 2001.
41. "Historic First for Mining in Africa - AngloGold Signs Global Labour Agreement," available online at www.icem.org/update/upd2002/upd02-36.html.
42. Another major strand was Annan's personal engagement in mobilizing resources to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including persuading the major pharmaceutical companies to lower prices on essential drugs and advocating the creation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
43. The negotiating text for the summit declaration was drafted by the Secretariat and was drawn directly from the final section of Annan's report.
44. UN peacekeeping falls in between. Annan pursued a parallel reform track, including cooperating fully with and accepting the conclusions reached by the independent investigation of the Rwanda genocide (chaired by former Swedish prime minister Ingvar Carlsson) and conducting a highly critical self-study of the UN's shortcomings in Srebrenica. Building on those, he then convened a high-level panel, chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi, to suggest ways to strengthen the UN's capacity to conduct peace operations (Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations, A/55/305, 21 August 2000). But implementation of the Brahimi recommendations, slow and modest to date, is in the hands of governments.
45. Eugene Bardach, Getting Agencies to Work Together (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1998).
46. Chester I. Barnard, The Functions of the Executive (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1938), p. 184.
47. The reference here is to collaborative networks among public agencies and civil society entities. See Rupert F. Chisholm, Developing Network Organizations (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1998); Ruggie, "The Theory and Practice of Learning Networks"; and Wolfgang Reinicke and Francis Deng, Critical Choices: The United Nations, Networks, and the Future of Global Governance (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2000).
48. The reference here is to collaborative networks among public agencies and civil society entities. See Rupert F. Chisholm, Developing Network Organizations (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1998); Ruggie, "The Theory and Practice of Learning Networks"; and Wolfgang Reinicke and Francis Deng, Critical Choices: The United Nations, Networks, and the Future of Global Governance (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2000).
49. The reference here is to collaborative networks among public agencies and civil society entities. See Rupert F. Chisholm, Developing Network Organizations (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1998); Ruggie, "The Theory and Practice of Learning Networks"; and Wolfgang Reinicke and Francis Deng, Critical Choices: The United Nations, Networks, and the Future of Global Governance (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2000).
50. These views were expressed in the CEB's review of the draft implementation strategy, at a retreat in Rome in April 2002.
51. Exactly the same problem exists domestically: Eugene Bardach and Cara Lesser, "Accountability in Human Services Collaborates - for What? and to Whom?," Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 6, no. 2 (1996): 197-212; R. A. W. Rhodes, Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflexivity and Accountability (Buckingham, England: Open University Press, 1997).
52. Exactly the same problem exists domestically: Eugene Bardach and Cara Lesser, "Accountability in Human Services Collaborates - for What? and to Whom?," Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 6, no. 2 (1996): 197-212; R. A. W. Rhodes, Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflexivity and Accountability (Buckingham, England: Open University Press, 1997).
53. The classic work is David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, Reinventing Government (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1992).
54. For an excellent discussion of accountability issues in global governance, see Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, "Democracy, Accountability and Global Governance," prepared for the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation conference "Globalization and Governance," La Jolla, California, 23-24 March 2001.