The Future in the Past (Session 4)

The World Citizen Book Club’s fourth session on The Future in the Past by Dr. S.M. Sharei focused on Chapter 9 (pages 340-353), nearing the conclusion of this detailed examination of the UN Charter’s untapped potential for institutional transformation.

About the Book

A forgotten clause in the UN Charter, the “San Francisco Promise,” offers a way forward to reform the United Nations from its current democratic deficit and the Security Council’s veto power. As a compromise, the permanent five members of the Security Council agreed to a clause allowing for Charter Review ten years after the UN came into force. This promise was activated in 1955 but was later breached and abandoned. The review conference, endowed in the Charter and legally still valid, could pave the way for writing a constitution for the UN, allowing it to reinvent itself to better face current and future global challenges and fulfill the objectives set out in the UN Charter’s preamble.

About the Author

Dr. S.M. Sharei specializes in public international law and the UN Charter and is the founding Executive Director and President of the Center for United Nations Constitutional Research (CUNCR). He holds a PhD and LLM in International Law, an MS in Computer Science, and a BSc in Applied Economics and Management. His thesis on upholding the “San Francisco Promise” and the rediscovery of Article 109(3) has been instrumental in advancing United Nations transformation. Under his direction, CUNCR has launched programs including the Youth Climate Ambassador initiative and the “How to Assemble Parliamentary Assemblies” series on cooperation among regional inter-parliamentary institutions. For over 30 years, he has been an activist in nuclear disarmament, UN reform, and democratic global governance, including service on the governing council of the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy when it convened the coalition for the International Criminal Court.

Discussion Highlights

This penultimate session examined the book’s near-final chapter, which synthesized the legal, historical, and political arguments for invoking Article 109(3). Participants discussed the practical steps that would be required to convene a Charter review conference and the transformative potential of such a process for delivering peace, environmental security, and effective responses to new global challenges.