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writing for godot

World Federalists Seek European Union Leadership for a New UN

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Written by Dr. Roger Kotila   
Sunday, 05 June 2016 17:42
BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 6, 2016 – The cobblestone streets have the feel of old Europe here at the home of the European Union, a collection of 28 nations that is considerably larger than the United States in both population and overall economic activity.

I am here in the EU’s capital city with fellow world federalists from the US and Canada. Under the umbrella of Democratic World Federalists based in San Francisco, we are talking to European Federalists about the necessity of creating a “new UN” by means of a review process found in the United Nations Charter – what we are calling “The Promise of San Francisco.”

The “Promise,” given at the original signing of the Charter in San Francisco, requires a review after ten years. The five permanent members of the Security Council (P-5) promised that such a review would be conducted, yet it has not happened. As a result the veto power given to the five nations (US, Russia, China, France, Great Britain) remains in force -- keeping the UN shamefully undemocratic.

PROMISE TO END WAR FAILED
The UN is not a world federation. This is why it has not lived up to its original task to end war. Old Europe, after suffering two devastating world wars which were the product of a now thoroughly discredited sovereign nation state system, changed to a partial federal union governing system which became the European Union – this is the new Europe.

The EU’s importance to world federalists is that there are many federalists in the European Parliament. As federalists, they understand why the UN has not been able to end “the scourge of war.” There have been over 250 wars since the signing of the UN Charter.

The UN’s governing structure is too much like old Europe which suffered war after war.

Although the EU is currently in mild crisis mode, the 12 golden stars one sees on EU flags show up seemingly everywhere. “Brexit” refers to a British referendum vote coming up soon to decide if the UK will remain, or leave, the EU. The potential loss of an EU member state has worried some European federalists, although it is unclear if Britain is more trouble than it is worth to the EU.

A far bigger problem is the multitude of refugees fleeing to Europe as a result of the wars in the Middle East – a crisis primarily caused by Europe’s chief ally, the US (and NATO) which started the violent conflicts in the first place with its own version of terrorism – the Pentagon’s “shock and awe” military invasion of Iraq, and other US/NATO covert or overt military operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and Ukraine.

It is my contention that the EU’s crisis with refugees was brought about in large part because of the fatal flaws in the UN Charter which prevent it from doing its primary job – preventing wars before they occur.

A NEW UN IS A BETTER CHOICE THAN NATO
Ironically, Europe has put its hope for “security” with the US through its involvement with NATO – a military alliance which could lead to the very war that the EU is trying to avoid. NATO’s headquarters is here in Brussels. NATO has increasingly put itself at the borders of Russia making Moscow understandably suspicious of US/NATO’s intentions and causing a military arms build-up.

If NATO is a dangerous choice for the peaceful security of the EU, what is the alternative? World federalists such as Einstein concluded that only a world federal government – world union with enforceable world law, is what is required. There is no shortcut.

The logical conclusion is that we need a new UN Charter if the goal is to end wars and to bring safety and security to the world as a whole, and to Europe in particular.

OLD UN, NEW UN
A world federalist colleague, Shahr-Yar Sharei, studied law at the University of Kent. Based upon his doctoral research into international law (or lack thereof) and the UN Charter, he has concluded that the UN is legally required to conduct a Charter review. As a consequence of his findings, he is in the process of setting up a new think tank – the Center for United Nations Constitutional Research (CUNCR), to be located here in Brussels.

The vision of a new UN is long overdue. The present geopolitical system must be changed, or it will drag the world community (and the EU) down with it.

LOOKING TO THE EUROPEAN UNION TO LEAD THE WAY
Will the EU, with a Parliament full of federalists, be willing to take the lead and use its resources and experience in federalism to help design a modern world constitution/charter so that military threats such as with NATO become a thing of the past?

World federalists know what the governing structure should look like. They know what is needed. The World Constitution and Parliament Association for example, anticipated that this day would come, and has waiting in the wings a model world federal constitution – the Constitution for the Federation of Earth, also known as the "Earth Constitution."

So will the EU join the campaign to fulfill “The Promise of San Francisco?” Will they see the desperate need for a new United Nations and decide to act?
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