The United Nations as a Knowledge System by Nanette Svenson

Author:Nanette Svenson [Svenson, Nanette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, General, Political Science, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), Treaties
ISBN: 9781317354314
Google: qNS9CgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 27290302
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

(Finnemore and Sikkink, “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change”)

The UN is arguably most important in the early stages of norm emergence and cascade. It is here that the system’s most notable advantages and resources can be applied to the actions required for advancing the process. The UN, through the General Assembly, offers the quintessential platform for the proposal and discussion of potential normative action on global issues. Additionally, the UN Charter grants the Security Council the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states (the only UN body with such license), particularly with regard to matters of peacekeeping, international sanctions or military action. Through precedent of past action (and adopted norms), the UN also offers a substantive base upon which argumentation for further normative positions can be constructed. No other international system presents such a venue. By virtue of its chartered mandate, if not by all of its daily operation, the UN still retains a relatively high degree of international legitimacy and esteem, particularly as a reference for benchmarking just universal behavior.

At the emergence stage, the UN works to formulate global compromise through convening regional and global conferences on specific issues, drafting international agreements, and lobbying member states to become signatories with minimal reservations stipulated. Often a non-binding resolution of the UN General Assembly will predate a similar binding resolution of the Security Council. A major function of the UN at this stage is building sufficient consensus to precisely define terms, which are later adopted by member states in domestic legislation and eventually become part of customary international law. At stage two, states ratify treaties and, where necessary, may implement enacting legislation to codify the international agreement. At this point, with the adjustment of national legislation or regulation, the agreement has entered into force for that particular state.7 Here, the UN plays an active role in follow-up reporting, monitoring ratification, hosting conferences, and implementing platforms for action. Stage three refers to the point at which states have not only implemented domestic legislation but have internalized the concepts, as evidenced by supporting regulatory action and court decisions that indicate widespread adherence to the law.

This chapter focuses primarily on stage one, where norms are formulated, and the transition between stages one and two, where international law becomes binding domestic law, since these are the stages in which the UN is most visibly influencing. It examines UN utilization of its range of knowledge and networking capacity to produce normative agreements and, subsequently, transform these into universal normative practice.

Terminology and process

The UN implements a variety of international instruments to establish rights and obligations among parties. As noted above, the pertinent documents have a variety of titles. The United Nations Treaty Collection (UNTC) provides an overview of these terms but stresses that the title assigned to a particular international instrument has no overriding legal effects. Rather, the title ultimately selected for an international agreement often depends on the degree of formality intended, habitual use, gravity of the problem addressed, extent of intended cooperation among parties, and the particular character or importance sought to be attributed to the instrument by its parties.

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