Assignment

Intro and Thesis
The problem of balancing the goals of Peace and Security with the goals of Economic and Social Development is a problem tied to the design of the United Nations and its charter. The following summary considers the views of Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma of India, during a class briefing on 1 October 2001. The summary presents Ambassador Sharma�s positions on balancing these two �pillars� of the UN system [Peace and Security and Economic and Social Development] as interpreted by the author.

Peace and Security
Seeing as the UN was forged after World War II, there was a considerable interest in preventing the outbreak of further wars. The framers of the UN charter, convinced that it would require determination and commitment on the part of the �important� powers to sustain an effective United Nations, granted these nations special powers in the UN. Among other privileges, the important powers were granted permanent status on the Security Council, a veto, heavy influence in the affairs of the UN at large, etc. These privileges granted the important powers a de facto higher status.

Economic and Social Development
With Peace and Security the primary �pillar� of the UN, and the prevention of further wars the ultimate goal of the UN, the framers of the UN also recognized the need to minimize the economic and social factors which contribute to conflict i.e. poverty, discrimination, lack of access to healthcare, education, etc.
While the general assembly, in theory retained control of this area, the reality shows that the �important� powers held control of this area as well through the Bretton Woods system. In this system power is help through �the purse�.

Reconciliation of the Two Pillars?
The two pillars, although markedly different, are not mutually exclusive and do not require reconciliation. As Ambassador Sharma points out, there has been a move from the traditional sense of Peacekeeping to a more comprehensive peacekeeping, which includes demobilization, disarmament, and rehabilitation. Forces such as the G77, and the non-aligned nations succeeded in casting the issue in a new way, highlighting the economic and social factors that contribute to war. The �Security� in �Peace and Security� takes on new meaning for many of these countries. �Security� necessitates more than just physical or political security, it calls for human security.

The Shift:
With the rise in importance of trade in this age of globalization, the GATT and later the WTO, �being concerned with the financial and global economic factors that � caused a shift away from the social and developmental concerns of member states. Ambassador Sharma states that the �role of the demander has changed�, before it was the G77 that demanded special recognition for the different circumstances of G77 states, today it is the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank which are demanders. The issue here is that, very often, these agencies demand the impossible of already struggling nations.

The Response:
No change in policy or paradigm goes unnoticed. There has been a myriad response to these changes in paradigm: from social/development to trade/finance. Often this response is in recognition of the fact that there is an uneven �distribution of pain� between the �north and the south�.
It is worth noting that the pain borne by the south is one of unequal relationships. This inequality manifests itself through outrageous disparities in taxes levied against goods from �the south�, through burdensome requirements for the development aid, and it manifests itself in the statistics of aid and social and economic condition of the countries of �the south�.
The real task of the UN and the real problem of security should be to overcome these types of relationships and statistics for they do not constitute human dignity.

The Beginnings of a Remedy:
Sharma posits that the answer to balancing the two pillars of the UN is in job creation. Without jobs, he insists the human security necessary to create a stable society in the developing countries cannot be realized. He points to the incidence of social/civil unrest, and political instability in regions with high rates of poverty, unemployment, and disenfranchisement, as evidence of the fact that alleviating these ills will be pivotal to achieving real peace and security and meeting the mission of the UN. Without jobs and the promotion and recognition of the primacy of human dignity, the rest of the work of the UN is worthless because it is futile.