7 - On the far side of conflict: the UN Peacebuilding Commission as optical illusion

Summary

The past as prologue

On October 24, 2005, sixty years after its creation, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a voluminous resolution, A/RES/60/1, reflecting the outcome of a lengthy process that culminated in a World Summit meant to bring the United Nations into the twenty-first century. One of the main features of this resolution was the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission “as an intergovernmental advisory body.”

While this, at first blush, would seem to be a major accomplishment, it is in fact a disappointing ending to a long process that at certain times carried considerable promise. The decisions that led to the creation of a Commission with only a fraction of its potential were driven by the politically charged concept of “UN reform.”

As a rule, organizations develop organically, and if they don't adapt to external changes they either die, as the League of Nations did, or they become a historical relic functioning on the margins, like the symphony orchestra – dressed up in the symbols of a bygone era. Those who see the UN as a viable institution, and therefore fear its ability to set global standards and make sovereignty into a relative term, would like to see its powers diminished. They hope to achieve this by depicting the organization as a corrupt and outdated entity that requires “reform,” much as a delinquent is sent away to an institution where a few decades of austerity and hard labor will drive out the evil spirits.