Dr. Nayyar will make a seminar presentation at the Dag Hammarkjhold Library, U.N. Headquarters, on Weds. The U.N., World Bank and International Monetary Fund, created at the end of World War II, today operate on badly outdated political and economic foundations and need to be overhauled before a crisis induced by globalization forces the changes required, a major new study warns.
Historical experience suggests that crises are the catalysts of change.
The world need not wait for another crisis of such proportions to contemplate and introduce the much needed changes in global governance, the study says. The U.N. suffers from a democratic deficit that was an integral part of the original design but needs to be remedied now, the study says, adding that the U.N. s moral authority is seriously undermined because its laws or principles are enforced selectively when it suits the interests of the rich and the powerful. Circumventing the veto granted more than 50 years ago to the five permanent Security Council members and enlarging the membership of that body are imperative for the U.N. s continued credibility. The process of globalization has given rise to new problems and governance needs, but the U.N. system has yet to adjust, the study says. The responsiveness of the United Nations to issues of our times has been limited to global meets such as the Earth Summit or the Social Summit, useful fora for public concern but insufficient as solutions to the problems at stake.