The Case for Africa’s Permanent Presence on the UN Security Council and G-20 Membership
gyudemoore.substack.com
Others have made the case for Africa’s G-20 membership elsewhere. I think those same arguments extend to UNSC seats, so my goal here is to be additive and complementary, not to make a comprehensive case. It was supposedly Winston Churchill who observed that “democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” I will say the same about multilateralism. A rules-based international system with clear norms on state behavior has clear drawbacks, but it is still the best compared with other systems. As the scale of global crises expands – especially the fallout from climate – it is difficult to imagine how we can provide global public goods outside a “rules-based order”. But as powerful states undermine the existing order, while claiming to protect it, there is an opportunity for Africa to embrace the mantle of “guardian of multilateralism”. Africa’s support for multilateralism is driven by necessity. Multilateralism has allowed economic integration that has yielded benefits for Africa. As the IMF notes, “…
The Case for Africa’s Permanent Presence on the UN Security Council and G-20 Membership
The Case for Africa’s Permanent Presence on…
The Case for Africa’s Permanent Presence on the UN Security Council and G-20 Membership
Others have made the case for Africa’s G-20 membership elsewhere. I think those same arguments extend to UNSC seats, so my goal here is to be additive and complementary, not to make a comprehensive case. It was supposedly Winston Churchill who observed that “democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” I will say the same about multilateralism. A rules-based international system with clear norms on state behavior has clear drawbacks, but it is still the best compared with other systems. As the scale of global crises expands – especially the fallout from climate – it is difficult to imagine how we can provide global public goods outside a “rules-based order”. But as powerful states undermine the existing order, while claiming to protect it, there is an opportunity for Africa to embrace the mantle of “guardian of multilateralism”. Africa’s support for multilateralism is driven by necessity. Multilateralism has allowed economic integration that has yielded benefits for Africa. As the IMF notes, “…