Article: Nieuw Veiligheidspartnerschap in de maak: Verenigde Naties en regionale organisaties
in: Internationale Spectator, 2008, vol. 62, nr. 6, pp.349-354.
Nieuw veiligheidspartnerschap in de maak: Verenigde Naties en regionale organisaties
Abstract
Francis Baert and Luk Van Langenhove discuss the relationship between the United Nations and regional organisations in the maintenance of peace and security. In recent years several members of the Security Council took the initiative to bring this relationship prominently on the UN agenda. For long, universalism and regionalism were considered as opposing concepts. This was reflected in the negotiations on the UN Charter and led to an ambiguous system. Awareness has grown that universalism and regionalism are mutually re-inforcing tendencies in global governance. However, it is mainly the UN itself that is pushing for further collaboration in this field. The UN conducts High-Level Meetings with regional organisations since 1994. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan further intensified this collaboration and envisaged the build-up of a regional-global security mechanism. Under the current Secretary-General such collaboration seems to slow down. The process of High-Level Meetings is abandoned and the holistic approach is replaced by a focus on a more exclusive collaboration with the African Union. A better understanding of the capacities of regional organisations would help to stimulate once more the inter-institutional collaboration and to streamline the regional-global approach, which could lead to more focused decisions.
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