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tv   Inside Story  Al Jazeera  March 5, 2024 3:30pm-4:00pm AST

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a thing on india, as i travel across the country examining the issue of 6 and the 4th of athletics at this critical moment in the country of history. begin beautiful. coming soon on august, the the u. s. has vetoed all 3 resolutions of the un security council calling for a safe spot in the concept that since, as well launched its war in october. so is washington miss using its veto power and also the counselors voting system need to change? this is inside story, the hello welcome to the program. i'm adrian thinking. 5 months. so this really strikes on guns and the united nations has failed to adopt the resolution. calling for a 6 file, 3 vote slip and held up
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a security council. but the united states has been to the old, the, you and secretary general antonio for 10 years as described the veto as an instrument that's paralyzed the council, from taking action on the strip that's offensive of the palestine side by side of the un has also voiced saying that american vetoes have cost the palestinians, the lives the u. s. is one of the only 5 permanent members that can veto resolutions, edits accused of misusing it. is use of the fee to a hindrance to decision making in the un security council on disability. so the agenda of a select group of countries. we're bringing our guests in just a moment, but 1st the report from bloomfield coast, i'm sure he's in october the united states veto den adverb. back and broadly supported. un security council resolution demanding an immediate cease fire and casa, so team of the 15 member council voted in favor for the united kingdom. that stained on the us said the initiative would into field with negotiations on the deal to
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free captors. and instead of proposed as riser dropped, as we look forward to engaging on a text that we believe will address so many of the concerns we all share a text that can and should be adopted by the council so that we can have a temporary cease fire as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released, as this temporary cease fire is critical to getting aid into the hands of palestinian civilians who desperately desperately need it since, as well as well and also started in october. the us has vetoed 3 see 5 resolutions at the council. the u. k. up stain getting all 3 votes. russia upstate and in october, the un security council has 10 elected members. and 5 permanent members who viewed the 2 pallets the u. s. u. k,
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from russia and china were chosen as the permanent 5 after world war 2. for the to adopt a resolution. at least 9 volts are required in favor and no re toes by any of the permanent members. the u. s. has rejections for kohls, for the sci fi and casa, is raising questions about the uni lax republic of these countries. as long as the security concept is better lies and vito's cost it, then it is costing the palestinian people that lives. there is no way except a ceasefire to be put in place. and even i said to the best of the united states, that there is nothing that can prevent you. if you have cloud over is that i have a uni laptop sees fly up, put in place for as long as you want. you don't need a resolution in the security council as well as well. and gaza has getting more than 30000 palestinians in the past. 5 months left to this is rarely
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strikes. i'm from the patients have displaced most of it's 2400000 people. and they have little if any access to food, water medicine and shipped to the world health organization is born in of famine and outbreaks of disease. the despite the growing humanitarian crisis, do you want security council has failed to unite? i'm calling for the immediate ceasefire. let me close, i'm sure if i'll just see the full inside story. that's bringing all panel of experts from new york originally by richard gallon and the you and director of the international crisis group the think tank. providing analysis of global conflicts, the policy makers and academics from montreal, which went by milan rabbani is a non resident fellow at percent of a conflict and humanitarian studies. he's worked on almost any issues with un agencies and joining us from the gun we in wales is con ross form
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a u. k. diplomats at the u. n. he's currently working on the upcoming un summit or the future gentleman. welcome to you. well, richard, let's start with you. is the un security council fit for purpose? in 2024. what was the thinking back in 1945, but it was decided to have these 5 permanent seats on the council. and to what extent is the one gaza now forcing the security council to run up against it's, it's do political limitations as well. the security council has never truly fulfilled its original purpose. it was meant to be a global policing agency and the us associates, the partition, and the other permanent members were meant to be the 5 policeman who would hold crises in check and avoid a return to major power war. ever since the 19 forty's, the counsel has failed to live up to that vision because of the tensions between
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the big powers. that was a period of to 1989 when cooperation improved considerably. but the council still fails overland to and as opposed to you, and i think what we're seeing today of ukraine, some of it goes up, but also overall, the cases like my on my, is the tensions enrolled into us involving the russians and involving the chinese really hobbling this organization, which i think is sadly inevitable, a given the very 10 states of global politics today. monro bonnie does the will need these 5 police but us as richard put it, the parental supervision of 5 will pallas, 2 of which you could argue and not nearly as powerful as they once were. to what extent should security council membership be about value? it's not just about power as well. i think because as richard mentioned,
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the security council reflects the world as it existed in 1945. and it has failed to evolve since then for the simple reason that the security council reform is an incredibly complex process which requires the consent of those who stand to gain the least from any change. and i and therefore we can, i think, have a discussion proposing all kinds of manner in which a security council could operate more effectively and more efficiently. but i also think we have to recognize that the chances of this happening are exceedingly small . and now, with israel's war on the gaza strip, i think that the un, or at the very least, the security council is, i'm facing, it's abas cindy a moment on that time in the 1930s, when the league of nations failed to confront, is real as sorry,
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italy's aggression against ethiopia, because those on the receiving end of regression were, were too dark to have any concern. and what was that in the international community? and actually what we're seeing is increasingly in the international community seeking remedies outside and beyond the scope of the security council most recently with south africa's application to the international court of justice of general assembly resolutions, which are non binding. but yet, and i think um, the relevance of the security council is diminishing with every passing day, the colorado should any nation have a palace, a veto decisions made by a majority of the others at the you and in general, the not just the,
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the security council i mean, why isn't the global south given a much more influential voice on the security council? why don't india and brazil have a prominent seat countries in africa while they represented a permanent play on the security council? well, the simple answer is they didn't win. the 2nd level, it was the victims of the 2nd level who decided the machinery of the united nations and determine that the 5 of them, the current permanent 5 would have that the tire in order to protect their interests. richard gallon is entirely right that they was that top is kind of global policeman, but the b type was to protect the interest and they are not going to get that out any time soon. but that has been literally decades of debate about reform at the un security council debate, which is really coming to a head at the moment because of what is happening in gaza and the us be veto of sci fi resolutions. but also because the russians have v type resolutions on ukraine in
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a similar way, that seems to be bro consensus. the african needs to needs more representation. asia to perhaps wins in the joining as a permanent member and brazil from latin america. but the trouble with reform is that nobody can agree which countries to become new, permanent members. so there are ideas of semi permanent members, things like that to try to get round this. but the basic problem at the moment is that each of the prospective permanent members like india, brazil, etc, has very fast opposition from other countries. so there is no consensus on who should join a reformed security council. a con, why do i mean, why? why does the security council need permanent them as a tool? why count it will be just done on a rotating old of the or democratic basis? democratic doesn't really fit with the us. most of the democratic organ it is. uh,
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it is a body of states, many of which are not democratic. the general assembly is a place where things are debated and motions of past according to a majority or 2 thirds majority. but the security council is different by a bubble because the resolution for the policy is the decision. so that makes a blick, a treat, or a 193 member states of the, of the us. and so that gives it an extraordinary importance which the general assembly. oh ok. you play a more democratic party at least in state tubs, it gives it a power, but the general assembly does not have. and as richard. 2 ones, the permanent 5, i'm not going to give up the power to block the block of treat decisions on the rest of the. well, that is, that is not going to happen any time. say why the, which is why isn't that going to happen anytime soon? i as well because quite frankly, for the us, china and russia,
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this is a very happy situation to be that you have 3 powers with huge differences. but nonetheless, they have a common interest in maintaining control over the un system in the way the con describes. i mean, i think it is worth saying that we are seeing the why the un membership both the monitoring reform in a way we haven't really heard for these 20 is since the rock war. and secondly, we're seeing the general assembly becoming more active and the general assembly has spoken. alison passed resolutions on by a few crane and gaza, which expressed the frustration of most young members with the way the security council is working now. so that is a bit of an uprising, but the rules of the un shot to make it very clear that the current permanent 5
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members have to agree to any small change to the child. so such as the leasing of the. so what's changing the competition of the security council? so at the end of the day, washington there must go in beijing, can prevent any reforms that they find on comfortable rich events, september un secretary general, until the chatters won't have a great fracture in the global governance. the system was looming. but what does he mean by that? what's, what's the mood among diplomats at the you in a day as frustration, video games, ations ability to respond to crises as, as the rest of us. yes, i mean, one thing that i hear from diplomat, some old books, old groups in new york is that they increasingly struggle to convince the atlas, who most is back in the capitals, the, the us and really masses. i think there's a feeling amongst western nations the view and has shown profound limitations of ukraine. and that certainly
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a feeling around was that the un has shown profound limitations. so because it and so a lot of diplomats sitting in midtown manhattan. yeah, i do sense that they are pretty motional to well, the fads now and that leaves a pretty solid lude around the organization. i think. but i'm telling you a guitar which one he talked about, a great fact fracture was actually envisaging even broad of problems. i think that's our, steve's that there are issues about power not only and the security council, but also in other multi lot full bodies such as the world bank. and i am ass guitars, worries. but if the current big power has done at least allow some reform, think about a little bit of federal authority, but you're just going to see a lot of countries drifting away from them all to that full system altogether because it's so clearly biased and also so frequently, in effect, on robotic,
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i'm coming back to what you were saying about the chances of a full being streamed, the smallest is moultrie, less of the age of multilateralism, dead as i wouldn't say. so i think we're beginning to see the different forms of multilateralism, and i think you're beginning to see 2 developments. the 1st is, for example, of the establishment, an expansion of bricks on as, as alternatives or, or supplements to the existing multi level system. and, and the other is, is you're seeing increasing tensions between the role western designed rules based international order on the one hand and international law, the will of the international community on the other. and i think this is being expressed very clearly, for example, in the very different resolutions that are being adopted or not adopted by the security council on the one hand and the general assembly. on the other hand,
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i should out, we've been talking a lot about the use and abuse of, of, of the veto by the permanent 5 members of the security council. and that's an entirely appropriate discussion to have. but i think we also need to look at the, those resolutions that have been adopted and that are being violated even by the permanent 5 or some of the permanent 5 members. so for example, the united states relocated its embassy to his rule from tel aviv to jerusalem. an open and direct and brazen violation of a security council resolution from our belief. 1980 calling upon member states to remove their diplomatic missions from jerusalem. you know, the latest security council resolution calling upon states to observe distinction in their dealings with israel, between israel and the occupied territories is primarily longer than the breach. so
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i think the problem again, as, as, as, as my colleagues have been saying goes, it's deeper than simply the security council and the as an abuse of, of utah con. uh, how then do i mean the seemingly and practical per intractable problem here a, it's almost impossible to, to reform the un security council given the permanent members, but not wanted to give ground the you in charge that we discussed. but somehow it was majority of patients wanted some reform is going to have to happen. we talked at the beginning of the program about the you and some of the future that you're working on a is it, is anything likely to come out of that and tell us about about what that somebody aims to do. and so, i mean, just a quick comment on what marian said, i'm in there. awesome. most of that true success is for instance, i mean, i find it remarkable. the 10893 members states are able to agree on climate change
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. biodiversity, things like that. so there is some life left in the multilateral system. the un summit of the future was cooled by the sexy general to discuss the future of multilateralism, future global institutions. it's happening the september at the most senior head of state level. and it is supposed to cover everything from sustainable development to the governance about the space, to security council reform. and what we're saying, talking, what i'm hearing talking to diplomats, is that there is a real appetite to do something on the security council or a form. everybody knows it's really intractable, but maybe they can agree for instance, to have a deadline on agreeing reform. there is already an inter governmental discussion happening at the un, which is very come produce some proposals for reform. so you can put the deadline on those actually being agreed that the u. n. a they need
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a 2 thirds majority of the general assembly to all to the child to and then as others have been saying, they need to be ratified by particularly the p 5 themselves. that i would know also the legislatures. so whatever form we might say, propose that the un would then have to be rectified by the us congress i'm, i'm sure you'll view is can imagine how difficult that might be, but the un, some in the future is a particular moment, is supposed to be a kind of generational moment to discuss global governance. so inevitably security council reform is on the table. so what will the outcome document from the summit of the future looked like kind of what the, what is it going to be a fund at the end of the day? i as well international agreements have frontiers of various kinds. getting a 193 countries to agree, everything is pretty remarkable. and so far what i'm saying is that we will get a 193 countries to agree this text at the moment. that is an outcome text i'm the
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negotiations. it's pretty awful. it's lowest common denominator stuff, but i actually think there is an opportunity here for a group of moderate right? thinking progressive states to introduce some really thoughtful ambitions for form . so, you know, i mean, i'm going to go straight to, i think you give things a go, maybe you get them for may be done. though, on the other hand, what on baset or a said to me getting emma thing agreed in this moment, a great political pension and confrontation would be remarkable. richard, what state is the us diplomatic standing right down at the you? and since israel launched it's want gaza of the us, as we said, has found itself increasingly isolated and in both the general assembly and the security council. but i think that us diplomats are entirely aware that they have lost a huge amount of goodwill over the past month because of the best on its own garza . and i think that is very frustrating for us officials in the bikes and
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administrative sion who would actually spent the last couple of years working pretty hard. and i think reasonably successfully to restore us credibility at the un after the period of the trumpet ministration. when the us was a very disruptive player in new york, now of course, american diplomats now phase 2 problems. one is that the white house continues to follow the policies on gaza. that nice to have members, i'm fine and profoundly mistaken. and then there is an election on the rice and diplomats in new york. you know, they've read the new york times. they watch cnn. and they have very aware that mr. trump may come back and one year from now, we may be looking at a solution to disrupt us. the un that will be even harder to work with than the bite and team has been in recent months. and what does the us briefly, richard,
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what does the us need to do to restore its credibility at the, at the you and do it? did you think it? is it possible to do some? well, i think the shadow, trump will make it very difficult for the bite and with ministration to fully we gain credibility in the coming year. but that all things, but the administration could do staffing, obviously, with supporting a see fire and gaza and then using the mechanisms of the un, including the security council to support the ceasefire. and perhaps we commit to the 2 state solution. the us can also invest in the summit of the feature that colin was being describing it cutting, fully positive policies on other issues such as supporting crisis management's in africa, which would win it back some goodwill. but at the end of the day that the issue is gaza. and until there is a ceasefire in garza,
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the us is going to continue to struggle, i think diplomatically in new york. well, i'm reminded you do agree with that. i mean, can the us rebuild trust with it's that with the white a u. n. community of to the way in which it's behaved over garza a. yeah. yes. i do agree with with what was said, and i do think that this has been a rupture. um i do think it can be legitimately compared to the league of nations on response to the time vision of up to send you. i'm sure washington would love to you one security council reform, you know, provided the security council was reduced to 3 members of the us, the u. k. and as real. but that's also not on the agenda. and i think ultimately once again, i think states will 3 the security council as increasingly an obstacle to international order to international cooperation to international peace and
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security and began to seek solutions elsewhere. whether within the u. one system such as the general assembly in other agencies. and if those failed to achieve results as well, increasingly outside the u. one system, which i think would be very unfortunate because the united nations is the only truly global body we have of that to being run into the ground. primarily by those who are abusing the retail power in order to protect their own narrow self interest and their posting style laws. calling to you to agree with that a the, to what extent has the us has behavior a, b, u and since october last year, damage the credibility of the organization of the organization as a whole i, i agree with the of a panelist, it's definitely done a no, much damage to the american reputation at the un, the,
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the power to influence people on of a decisions at the un um, the credibility i but ukraine, for instance, where russia has, because resolutions that the un security council, i mean, russia has also brought the organization into disrepute but more the us is down the golf blocking seats. 5 resolutions as also on demand, the west and position on ukraine. so it's, it's, it's not a good picture. i think we need to be reaffirmation of some of the things the un is about particularly the legality of well because war is actually illegal, but for 2 very narrow circumstances. self defense and when conflicts, when more forces authorized by the un security council. and i hope that those values will vote very much more on it in the breach today will be reaffirmed. likewise, the us balance, but some very important universal principles such as human rights. the universal
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declaration on human rights are complete. the most important agreement, albeit a normative and also legal agreement of the 20th century. visa standards, the we must stop how we cannot let this institution be eroded. richard, we thought about a minute left on the program. how do you see the future for the you? i are you, are you optimistic? pessimistic is the us going to maintain it. states us is 1st among equals among us nations. it's role as the factor leader. if you like. i think that's the crises, common crises go and i am sure that if all else was equal when the war and gauze and finally and in the us would be able to gradually rebuild some leadership. although i think facing, continue in challenges from china and russia. but i do come back to this point, but if we have a 2nd trumpet ministration,
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then we could see much greater ruptures and much greater dramas at the un. and that really could not be end of washington this decades of multi lot for leadership of the gentleman we must leave it. but he thinks indeed to all for taking part in the program today. richard, going to one rabbani and to con ross. and thank you for watching. you can see the program again at any time by going to the website and i'll just 0. don't com for further discussion. joining us about facebook page, which you'll find at facebook dot com, forward slash h, a insights story out. of course, you can join the conversation on x. i handle that at age i inside story from the i agree. instead of going at the same in the, let's see, i can find the the
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b and here was the lab the needs and everybody's office will still be married at 16 mostly could not even imagine being arrested. but she decided that her grand daughter would not face the same restrictions 3 years ago when sonya was 15. convinced that a cut off near her home to take her in a mighty put difficulty getting a job and they thought i'm gonna have them give me the may i please individual? well, in the by, well my, i'll put the what the of the, a unique perspective that plays students up does, told the palestinians to go to on heard voices, to humor. i try to highlight the absurdities inconsistency, but upon proceed with the landscape. connect with our community and tap into conversations you will find elsewhere to take every day. this is going to
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