War in Ukraine: diplomacy with a veto? Federico Mayor Zaragoza 26 February 2022.

 

ART 010/22

 

War in Ukraine: diplomacy with a veto?

https://www.other-news.info/noticias/guerra-en-ucrania-diplomacia-con-veto/

 

Without the least intention to decrease Putin’s responsibility, we should consider - with as much urgency and stamina as possible - which have been the causes of this war and other conflicts, of the existence of nuclear weapons, plutocratic governance, global threats that are potentially irreversible... We should ask ourselves why Europe - that was deemed to play an important qualitative role on a global scale - was not even present as a speaker, because it was absorbed by the NATO... the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation... which extends eastwards and speaks in the name of European citizenship... We have the duty to remember.

We must remember which were the reasons that gave rise to the Second World War - the Aryan, Roman and Japanese supremacism, because the League of Nations had been abandoned by the United States from the very beginning- ... We should take into account that it was the veto of the victors which made Roosevelt's excellent multilateral design of the United Nations to be considered useless...  “We the peoples... are determined to save future generations from the scourge of war"...

We have just had a new evidence of the irrelevance of the United Nations, because 196 countries are fully dependent on the will of five countries... And the same can be said of the European Union that must adopt all its decisions unanimously, a rule that leads to 27 vetoes because unanimity is the antithesis of democracy... And this is why it is the NATO who speaks in the name of Europe.

All crises may potentially become an opportunity for change. The current crisis, whose origin was the reason of force, could become an incentive for a great global movement in favour of the force of reason, of mediation, of word, of democratic multilateralism at a global scale, allowing - once the possibilities for action have been exhausted when faced to global irreversible threats - to the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Agreements on Climate Change.

Yes: now, for the first time in history, the recognition of the equal dignity of all human beings is about to be achieved, without any discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, ideology, belief, sexual sensitivity... Now, for the first time in history, human beings can express themselves freely, now thanks to digital technology and they can therefore participate, which is the basis of democracy... Now, at last, when we are finally aware of the present situation and trends - “We, the peoples” may raise our voice and fulfil our essential responsibilities towards future generations... We can no longer be abducted by the immense power of the media - "a weapon of mass distraction", according to Soledad Gallego's accurate definition and warning-. We shall never again be mere spectators, but rather actors of the great transition from a culture of imposition, domination, violence and war to a culture of encounter, dialogue, conciliation, alliance and peace.

It is a duty of memory to take resolute action. It could become a crime of silence. The time has come for a great global coalition, led by women and

youth, for the sake of peace and non-violence, of conflict resolution within the context of a democratic multilateralism that shall supersede the governance of the G6, G7, G8 and G20.

A global coalition whose aim is to achieve the great transition from force to word, by reshaping the United Nations through a change in the composition of its General Assembly, so that “the peoples” are truly represented with 50% of its representatives belonging to the civil society, and the rest of its members (the other 50%) representing the States, and with the veto being replaced by well-weighted and balanced percentages...   

Yes “We, the peoples” shall at last be able to look into the eyes of our descendants and tell them that we shall not leave behind a Planet whose habitability has been deteriorated; that nuclear warheads shall be immediately disposed of; tax heavens shall disappear and the huge amounts currently devoted to territorial defence shall also be used to ensure human and food security, water, health, education, environmental protection - of the inhabitants of these well-protected territories... 

To achieve these pressing transformations, it is essential to eradicate imposition and establish democracy: democracy on a personal, local, national, regional and international scale. Just as in 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the renewed United Nations could adopt a Universal Declaration of Democracy (1) to address and to solve the problems of the new era.

1 https://declaraciondemocracia.wordpress.com/declaracion-democracia-2/

We consider Putin’s decision as the main reason, but we don’t neglect other issues that are regrettable or the need to redirect Ukraine’s conflict. We can turn them into an opportunity for change if the awareness of what has happened in the past pushes us to quickly change so that it is, at last, "We the peoples" who take the reins of our common destiny into our own hands.

 

Federico Mayor Zaragoza

26 February 2022.

 

STUDIES

Announcement

Contact

European Center for Peace and Development (ECPD)  
University for Peace established by the United Nations

ECPD Headquarters
Terazije 41
11000 Belgrade
Serbia
office@ecpd.org.rs
+381 11 3246-041;
+381 11 3246-042;
+381 11 3240-673;

Free Joomla! templates by AgeThemes