The Third Try: Can the UN Work?

• Author: Graham, Kennedy
• Position: Book review

THE THIRD TRY: Can the UN Work? Authors: Alison Broinowski and James Wilkinson Published by: Scribe, Melbourne, 2005, 304pp, A$35.

Political analysis is never so earnest as when the subject is the United Nations. No other issue evokes in the same way the aspirational dimension of the human condition, invites trenchant critique and tempts far-reaching personal judgments for a redemptive future as this. We are all concerned about the future of humanity. We all know best how to proceed.

The Third Try is a congenial saunter along the well-trodden path. Broinowski and Wilkinson bring extensive experience to bear on the perennial topic of UN weakness, global peril and the need for collective reform. The book is comprehensive in scope and articulate enough in exposition despite frequent mistakes in proofing. It is a useful potted history of global events and issues of our time. But it has the feel of a personal video.

Six decades on, the United Nations is beset with controversy. The Secretary-General, calling for a 'new San Francisco moment', asserts that it must undergo extensive overhaul. Yet consensus remains elusive on the United Nations' true role and the right guiding principles. The authors' aim, so stated, is to shed light on these issues and what must be done to ensure a better world. After 1919 and 1945, the world is attempting a 'third try' at reshaping global institutions.

Today's exercise, however, differs from earlier attempts in two ways. Whatever strains the world is experiencing, it is not emerging from a global conflagration. And unlike the last two attempts when the architecture was shaped by two positive visions embraced by US leaders, this time nations are grappling with 'conservative America's visceral objections to global governance in "almost any form'.

The authors adopt a systematic approach to the task they have set themselves. They examine progress and setbacks in the principal objectives of the UN Charter--ending the scourge of war; reaffirming faith in human rights; and promoting social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. They then consider possible reforms, repairs and alternatives available to address the possibilities for constructive change. 'We try to sort out the ideas, the obstacles, and what looks to be possible'.

What do the authors conclude? Firstly, that no serious argument can be made for doing away with the United Nations entirely; it serves too many purposes, practical as well as...