The UN and Global Governance

Abstract

This article discusses the role of the UN in global governance. In the absence of a world government to determine codes of conduct and regulate relations between states, multilateral approaches are needed to solve global problems. The UN provides an institutional framework for policy formulation and decision making at the international level. However, policies need to be underpinned by ideas and norms and the intellectual history of the UN suggests that the organisation is the source of many ideas that have led to human progress. For example, the concept of human rights and ideas about social and economic development and environmental sustainability have guided the UN’s work in different countries. But there are gaps in global governance including normative, policy, institutional and compliance gaps that together with a deficiency of resources could undermine the global effort to implement the UN’s ideas for creating a more peaceful and just world.