Africa and the Remaking of Global Order

Summary

Professor Tim Murithi, Head of Programme, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and Extraordinary Professeror, University of the Free State, South Africa

This paper makes the case for Africa to play a role in remaking global order, based on the need to address geopolitical insecurity, as well as the continent’s need to redress its historical exclusion from the design of the international system. The paper begins by proposing an understanding of global order predicated on the notions of the maintenance of peace and security, with an emphasis on the institution that has asserted its mandate to lead on this issue namely the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The paper will argue that the nefarious activities of the Permanent Members of the UNSC, such as carpet bombing Syria, has transformed this body into a net producer of instability and it is more appropriate to rebrand the institution as the ‘UN Insecurity Council’. The paper will discuss the dismantling of the UN system, particularly the Security Council, and its replacement with new institutions that seek to deepen global democracy, based on a renewal of principles of human freedom, solidarity, justice and reconciliation, which we can draw from Africa’s own historical experiences. The paper will conclude by discussing the practical steps towards the remaking of global order and examine the limitations that might confront such an initiative.

By: Prof. Tim Murithi
Pages: 36
Dimensions: A4
Date of publication:  2017