The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin has talked with the Chairman of the Committee for a Democratic UN, Andreas Bummel, about the goal of a UN Parliamentary Assembly, the global campaign coordinated by the Committee, the model of the European Union, the nature of democracy and global citizenship. The interview was conducted by Brandon Gebka. We reproduce it here:

The goal of the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is very ambitious. What are the main approaches you’ve been taking to interest government leaders in your project, and how much further do you have to go before you see results in the United Nations General Assembly?

The campaign is based on a gradual strategy. The first step in this strategy is that we are trying to involve elected representatives and to establish political support by parliaments all over the world. To date, more than 500 Members of Parliament from over 60 countries have endorsed the campaign. In most cases we are approaching government leaders only in a next step, when there is concrete parliamentary support in a given country. Overall, the focus of our work is still on the first part of the strategy.

The UN General Assembly could establish a global parliamentary body. An amendment of the UN Charter would not be necessary

So you mentioned Switzerland in particular, and I know other nations have also called for the creation of democratic institutions on a more global level. So, overall, how receptive have representatives in governments or NGOs been to the idea of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly?

Over the past years support has gained considerable momentum. But I think it’s still important to realize that the idea is not entirely new. For example, the United Nations Development Program issued a report in 1999, 11 years ago, in which it was said that the global architecture needs to be reformed, and that one key element that could be used to improve the international architecture would be to add a second assembly. And a second assembly is exactly what we’re working on.

As far as governments are concerned, most do not seem to be aware of the subject and thus haven’t developed a position yet. The officers at the UN missions and in the foreign ministries are very much focused on their day-to-day work and on the official reform agenda at the UN – and the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly isn’t yet part of these discussions. It’s the goal of our network to change that. Eventually, I believe, many will come to realize that the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly might be in their best interest.

You’ve said this isn’t necessarily a completely new idea, but it is something that several organizations support. Have any organizations in particular been useful in promoting your campaign, and do you think using NGO’s will help further the drive for a United Nations Parliament?

Yes, absolutely, that’s the case. It will be necessary to show that there is a broad public interest in the issue and this will only be possible through civil society organizations. The campaign is supported by over 200 NGOs in the world and these NGOs cover a broad range of different kinds of organizations. Some are very small and grass-roots oriented, working at a local level, and some are large international networks. But all of them contribute to the campaign in their specific way and all these contributions are valuable. I wouldn’t say that any specific organization has been more helpful than another because they do have very different capabilities. Some have their own in-house programs on the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly and others merely provide political support to the campaign and signed up to the campaign’s appeal.

What ways do you think cultural exchange could help further the creation of a United Nations Parliament?

Of course, more cultural exchange could facilitate cooperation at the global level and will make people appreciate that all human beings have something in common, that they are actually part of one single human family. A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly will be the first political body in human history that will give substance to this idea of humanity, the idea of a human family that includes every single human being. We always need to remind ourselves that the UN is an exclusive government organization today and that the United Nations General Assembly is composed of government representatives only. The people have no say in their selection. There is no direct tie between the world organization, global governance and the individual. Such a connection, however, would be created by a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly as it would be composed of elected representatives. I believe that cultural exchange is a key aspect in this project because it leads to a better understanding of how other peoples think and live. Fears are detracted. This, in turn, makes closer cooperation possible. After all, the success of this project has a lot to do with the development of a consciousness for the fact that humanity has grown together into one single community of faith. Closer cooperation at the global level is inevitable and we want it to be as democratic as possible.

Obviously the incorporation of non-democracies into a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly will be a difficulty, and, thinking about that, it seems that non-democratic nations sometimes have the largest control over what information gets into their nation and what information is disseminated to the people. Do you see a way culture could be used to reach these populations that might not have all the information on how important a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is or how useful it could be in giving them a better future?

Within the campaign we have developed the common position that from our point of view participation in the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly should be open to all UN member states, even if they might have bad democratic credentials. There are various reasons for taking this position. On the one hand, it wouldn’t be a global parliamentary assembly if its membership was exclusive and this would diminish its legitimacy as well. Furthermore, determining whether a country is democratic or not is a very difficult undertaking that might be prone to political misuse.

For example, if we look at Zimbabwe, which is one of the most undemocratic countries in the world according to some assessments, we still have an environment where it probably would be possible to promote a UNPA because there is a visible opposition even if it is now part of the government of national unity. In other countries the right environment does not exist. We would have to look at every country individually in this regard. In any case, it is obvious that promoting a global democratic body is at odds with national autocratic regimes. Democratic rights and democratic participation cannot be restricted to the global level. I believe that democracy can only work if it is extended to all levels of governance, from the local to the global.

Do you feel that promoting a democracy at the world level, and making the statement that democracy is the best form of governance, would be a form of cultural imperialism, with the West forcing their ideal of governance on the rest of the world?

From my point of view, democracy is a universal concept and not necessarily Western. The principle is included in many UN documents such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the heads of states and governments of the world have repeatedly endorsed it at UN summits, for example.

But of course, as said before, when we’re talking about establishing global democracy, this is closely related to the question of how democracy develops at the national level. I am optimistic in this regard. Certain social and demographic developments simply take place as consequence of growing wealth and more education. From my point of view, democratization is a necessary consequence of modernization and industrialization and this process is taking place all over the globe.

Especially if we look at China, which is the largest country in the world, I think that sometime a point will be reached at which China will develop democratic institutions and a multiparty-system, simply because this will be a consequence of its modernization process. Rising average income and increased living standards lead to the development of an educated middle class. The people belonging to this middle class, who previously were occupied with establishing an economic base, will want to play a role in the political sphere as well. This impulse won’t be compatible with an autocratic one-party system. Democracy is a universal concept and if the right social and economic preconditions exist, it comes to the surface in political life. That’s nothing the West has to do with.

You have compared the movement to establish a UNPA with the progressive step by step approach used by the EU in gaining power. But the EU was based almost solely on economics, whereas a UNPA would be based more around social or political changes. How do you think this will affect the desire for nations to strengthen the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly campaign or to create a parliamentary assembly at all?

Yes, indeed, the model of EU integration is a very important one that we can draw upon. We should have in mind that the European community developed out of the treaties following the Second World War and that its main goal was to prevent future conflict. Economic integration and joint management of key resources, such as steel, initially was just a means to that end.

In any case, the European Parliament played a key role in making proposals and prodding decision-makers to overcome constitutional deadlocks in the European integration process. A similar impulse could come from a parliamentary body at the global level. The WTO’s Doha round, for example, is caught in a deadlock. I believe that if a UN Parliamentary Assembly existed, it would help to revitalize the process. One of the reasons is that parliamentarians can take much more flexible views than governments typically do. In my view, a UNPA could contribute to a better economic environment at the global level.

In the Committee for a Democratic United Nations’ publications, you wrote about a global community and an identity as a global citizen. How could this identity further the campaign for a UNPA, and how could the UNPA foster a feeling of unity throughout the world?

I think that the development of human consciousness and the development of social structures are a deeply interlocked. A global consciousness can only develop in a sustainable way if we also create global structures that it can relate to. But on the other hand, truly global institutions are probably not possible without a certain degree of global consciousness. In my assessment, a degree of global consciousness already exists. More and more individuals realize that they are indeed part of one human family and that there are challenges that affect us all, regardless of national boundaries. What is now needed is to take steps towards global institutions that are fit to cope with these challenges. A UN Parliamentary Assembly would bring us a huge step forward in this regard. Once it exists, it will surely contribute to an increased awareness of worldwide unity and this, again, will finally lead to new institutional, or structural changes. And so on. I think a similar process has taken place in Europe, where European consciousness has been growing in a close interrelationship with the level of the EU’s integration.

What are your plans to continue this campaign? Are there events in the near future?

Our campaign is very much decentralized and the participants around the world regularly organize national or regional meetings. I believe that there will be an event at the beginning of April in Lagos, for example. At least once a year there is also an international meeting. The next one will be in Buenos Aires in October.

And what do you think are the biggest obstacles you have to overcome in furthering your campaign?

The main goal we have is to achieve a majority decision in the UN General Assembly to set up a global parliamentary body. The biggest obstacle currently is that the public at large and many major NGOs aren’t yet aware of this possibility to alter the way the world is run. Much more public attention and public pressure will be necessary to get the proposal onto the agenda, let alone to get it adopted at the UN level.