World Peace Through Law: Rethinking an Old Theory and a Call for a UN Peace Force

by: James T. Ranney¹ of the Philadelphia CGS Chapter

World federalists make what they view as an airtight argument for world federalism which runs as follows. There are only two ways to resolve true conflict (conflict that cannot be mediated) at the international level: (1) by war (not such a good idea any more, since WWIII would entail the almost certain extinction of at least our species), and (2) by law. Therefore, they say, choose law. And by "law," they mean law that is the only kind worth having, enforceable law, enforceable upon individuals, i.e., world law, created by a global legislature and enforced by global courts and global police, unlike the inadequate currently-existing international "law" and the weak system of UN-based collective insecurity that we now have.²

This article will explore another possibility, that the "law" in the phrase "world peace through law" need not be that of a global legislature, that there are other ways of securing world peace through law, both in the short term and in the long run.

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In Geneva, Switzerland today, the United States and Russia began a three-day series of talks to continue negotiating the terms for renewing the soon-to-expire Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). START was agreed upon by both nations in 1991 in an effort to significantly reduce the nations' nuclear stockpiles and is set to expire on December 5th of this year.

While the two countries have suffered a strained relationship over the past several years, President Barack Obama said in his first press conference:

What I know is this: that if we see a nuclear arms race in a region as volatile as the Middle East, everybody will be in danger. And one of my goals is to prevent nuclear proliferation generally. I think that it's important for the United States, in concert with Russia, to lead the way on this....I've mentioned this in conversations with the Russian president, Mr. Medvedev, to let him know that it is important for us to restart the conversations about how we can start reducing our nuclear arsenals in an effective way.

Now, for the purpose of renewing this treaty, we need to wait and see if the United States and Russia can get past their respective hang-ups regarding North Korean nukes and the planned U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Submitted by Becky Tan, Manhattan Beach Chapter Leader

A few years ago (Nov. ‘05) we were given a Partners for Global Change Challenge to have each of our local Mayors sign on to the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, a movement started by Mayor Nickels of Seattle, Washington, in response to The U.S. Government's failure to sign on to the Kyoto Agreement. This seemed like a wonderful local action project for the newly formed Manhattan Beach group. The Mayor and City Manager were, at that time, less than enthused about this project. However, with repeated visits, networking with another local group - Environmental Priorities Network, letters to the Editor, petition drives, a new mayor, and time, we prevailed in this effort. Not only has Manhattan Beach signed on to the agreement, but also, by encouraging the other local group to get actively involved, 13 adjacent cities that have signed on, and all the cities are actively working on climate protection issues. Things didn't stop here however. Last month, (Apr. '09) BMW announced they would like to lease 10 electric cars to Manhattan Beach. Beginning in early May, the automaker will disperse 500 vehicles to municipalities, companies and regular folk alike on both sides of the country in exchange for feedback before the cars hit the market. "This will help us gain first experience with an electric car," Jambor said. Most testers will pay $850 a month for the vehicle, but Manhattan Beach could get a special fleet price of $10 per car, she said. Manhattan Beach's staunch environmental activism of late factored into BMW approaching the city for the program."

I would like to think that the work by Citizens for Global Solutions helped get the ball rolling. Who knows where those early efforts will end.

Today, Wednesday, April 1, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met to begin talks about reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia. Both leaders agreed to work towards expanding the terms set forth in the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which is set to expire at the end of this year. Obama and Medvedev each agreed to immediately start work on an outline for a replacement treaty, expected to call for a further reduction in nuclear weapons by both countries to no more than 1,500 each. Currently, the United States has 2,200 nuclear warheads and Russia has 2,800.

This is really great news. Not only do these talks signify a bolstering of the U.S./Russia relationship, which has often been strained in recent years, but this is a step in the right direction towards the U.S. finally ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The United States signed the CTBT, which bans all nuclear weapons testing, but Congress has yet to ratify it. President Obama has stated his support for ratifying the CTBT, which would mark a signficant step towards ending the possibility of a new nuclear arms race and would guard against any further risks to human health or the environment that nuclear testing causes.

Another bonus: negotiating a new bilateral arsenal reduction treaty with Russia would almost certainly give the U.S. more leverage when talking to other countries like North Korea and Iran about their illicit nuclear production programs.

On Sunday, February 22, George Clooney met with President Obama to discuss the crisis in Darfur and then went on Larry King Live to continue advocating - instead of partying it up on Oscar night. Clooney, a U.N. Messenger of Peace, has visited Sudan several times and works with Save Darfur, a coalition partner of Citizens for Global Solutions. Clooney's message to the President? The U.S. needs to appoint an envoy to lead Sudan policy. If this sounds familiar, it may be because we sent out an action alert earlier this month to the same effect! Clooney reports that the President and Vice President both seemed receptive to the request.

Let the administration know that you are of the same mind as Clooney, and that you agree the U.S. needs to quickly appoint an official to manage Sudan policy: click here to send an email to President Obama in 30 seconds.