The United Nations based on Revised, Amended, & Expanded Charter

At the CGS 2022 Annual Conference, Dr. Joseph Baratta presented the Clark-Sohn model for reforming the United Nations through a revised, amended, and expanded Charter. This historically significant model remains one of the most carefully developed proposals for transforming the UN into a more effective system of global governance.

Event Description

Dr. Baratta examined the proposals developed by Grenville Clark and Harvard international lawyer Louis B. Sohn in their landmark work World Peace through World Law. Clark and Sohn’s ideas would have moved the United Nations significantly toward becoming a federal world government, and their model has remained one of the most influential blueprints in the world federalist movement. Dr. Baratta contextualized the Clark-Sohn proposals within the broader history of efforts to strengthen the United Nations and explored their continued relevance.

Speakers

• Dr. Joseph Baratta, Professor Emeritus, Worcester State University; Author, The Politics of World Federation (two volumes)

Policy Focus

• The Clark-Sohn model for transforming the UN into a more effective system of global governance
• Charter revision as a vehicle for strengthening international law and institutions
• Historical precedents and lessons from the world federalist movement
• Incremental UN reform versus comprehensive Charter overhaul