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| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland | ||
| Language | English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian[1] | ||
| Secretary-General | |||
| Established | Treaty of Geneva: September 12th, 1994 | ||
The United Democracies is an international organization made out of liberal democracies, whose goals are to strengthen security and economic cooperation among the world’s liberal democracies and to provide a framework in which they can cooperate as one in order to effectively tackle common challenges within the countries and others when they greatly need it, similar to many regional and global institutions, but acts as a part of the organization(s), especially the UN. Normally, those institutions are to help tackle these problems, but if they fail to do so, then the United Democracies steps in and acts independently to make effort not only to solve these problems, but to strengthen liberty under law around the world, and serves as institutional embodiment and ratification of “liberal peace”.
History[]
The United Nations is the most important international organization in the world, best known for its efforts for solving severe situations and providing humanitarian assistance, yet it has been criticized numerous times for its flaws, including the fact it is too bureaucratic, too slow and too incompetent in solving urgent humanitarian or political crisis situations, which could have been less severe if it weren’t for those flaws.
The moment that would lead to the United Democracies was the failure of the UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of either sanctions or military interference against Rwanda on January 11, 1994, mainly due to the opposition from most authoritarian countries and dictatorships. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Gorbachev knew that the genocide can not be stopped unless any action is taken, but the authoritarian countries and dictatorships block any means to stop it. Realizing the whole situation must be taken in their hands, both presidents proposed the "United Democracies", but both leaders decided to not announce the proposal. On January 13, 1994, in order to start making the action against Rwanda, the two presidents met with the heads of governments from several NATO, CSTO, and other liberal democratic countries, where a vote to intervene in Rwanda succeeded, which the choice military action gained the majority. This allowed the inclusion of the US, USSR, NATO, CSTO, Tanzania, Kenya, and other liberal democratic countries to declare war on Rwanda. On January 15, both leaders decided to announce the proposal. Gorbachev and Bush announced to all coalition members in the War in Rwanda said that the coalition of nations that agreed at the NATO summit was part of a new, proposed, international organization, the "United Democracies".
On January 11, 1995, Bush and Gorbachev negotiated with democratic countries around the world, trying to get democratically elected governments to participate in the organization in which only democracies could join, and which would be free from authoritarian governments and dictatorships that caused trouble in the United Nations. Yet they encouraged them not to leave the United Nations. On July 4, 1995, just after the G8 summit in Geneva, Bush and Gorbachev and the heads of all democratic governments met together at Geneva. At this summit, the participating countries agreed to the idea for United Democracies, with a conference planned to take place within a month.
On February 11, 1995, the Conference on Democracies began in Geneva, Switzerland, attended by democratic governments involved in drafting the Charter of a United Democracies. The League of Democracies officially came into existence on March 10, 1995 upon the ratification of the Treaty of Geneva by the attending governments, including four permanent members of the UN Security Council — France, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States. The first meetings of the Concert of Democracies, with representatives from 126 nations represented, took place in Geneva on February 22, 1995.
Since its founding, it has cooperated with other nations in assistance for victims of war, hunger, and disease. There was construction of UD buildings in member countries and other countries where help is most needed. Over time, more countries joined, including Taiwan (under certain conditions) and Switzerland (though does not get involved much) in 1997, Egypt, Thailand, Singapore, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Hong Kong (under certain conditions), Macau (under certain conditions), Uganda, Kuwait, the UAE, Cuba, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Jordan in 1999-2000, Somalia and Sudan in 2009, and the most recent, Tunisia and Libya, in 2011.
Membership Rules[]
Because this organization follows this motto, "For the democracies by the democracies", there is an official written criteria in order to be in the organization.
- The nation must not be authoritarian or be ruled by a dictatorship.
- The nation must have a good record of human rights.
- The nation must have free, democratic elections.
The Charter for United Democracies[]
The charter, made at the first meeting of the organization, is the system of "Golden Laws" for which all member nations are always bound to. The charter states that the United Democracies is to be a part with regional and international organizations on tackling crises, like the UN. Howeverm if those organizations fail to get the crisis under control, the United Democracies steps in to work independently and solve the crisis and act as the focal point for efforts to strengthen liberty under law around the world.
- Parties pledge never to use and/or plan to use military force against one other except in the event of a coup or revolution within a member nation.
- Parties must always commit to hold multiparty, free and fair elections at regular intervals.
- Parties must always commit to uphold internationally recognized civil and political rights for all their citizens and to make these rights enforceable by an independent judiciary and eliminate unconstitutional laws.
- Parties must recognize that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe such as mass murder and rape, ethnic cleansing by forcible expulsion and terror, and deliberative starvation and exposure to disease. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, then such crisis must be handled by the international community.
- Parties undertake to contribute to the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by promoting liberal democracy as the official model of government and by bringing about a better understanding throughout the world of the principles on which is the foundation for liberal democracies.
- The treaty does not affect and shall not be interfered regardless under the U.N. Charter of the Parties which are members of the United Nations, or the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security.
- Action pursuant to article four and consistent with the purposes of the U.N., including the use of military force, may be approved by the majority of the parties, or 2/3.
- Action to enforce the purposes of the U.N. in the wake of a threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression, may be approved by the majority of the parties, or 2/3.
- Such action by the U.D. can happen if the U.N. fails to make an action.
Organization[]
The Palais des Nations, the headquarters of the UD
The United Democracies is ultimately governed by its 115 member states. However, the Charter of the United Democracies, and other agreements, outline how decisions are to be made within UD. The permanent member of each nation represented in the UD is known as the Permanent Representative and is generally a senior civil servant or an experienced ambassador that holds that diplomatic rank.
When the United Democracies made during the signing of the Treaty of Geneva, it made an agreement with the United Nations to use the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland as the organization's headquarters.
Seven official languages of the United Nations, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are English, French, Spanish, Russia, German, Portuguese, and Japanese while the Secretariat uses two working languages, English and Russian.
Membership
(*Those were the first nations to join the United Democracies at its formation)
This list shows the member nations of the UD:
- Canada: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- United States: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Mexico: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Belize: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Guatemala: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Honduras: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Nicaragua: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- El Salvador: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Costa Rica: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Panama: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Bahamas: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Jamaica: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Dominican Republic: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Antigua & Barbuda: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- St. Kitts & Nevis: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Dominica: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- St. Lucia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Barbados: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Grenada: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Trinidad & Tobago: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Guyana: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Suriname: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Colombia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Ecuador: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Peru: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Bolivia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Paraguay: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Uruguay: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Brazil: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Chile: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Argentina: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Mali: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Senegal: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Cape Verde: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Sierra Leone: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Liberia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Ghana: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Benin: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Ethiopia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Sao Tome and Principe: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Republic of the Congo: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Tanzania: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Angola: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Zambia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Malawi: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Mozambique: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Seychelles: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Comoros: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Mauritius: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Namibia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Botswana: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- South Africa: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Lesotho: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Australia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- New Zealand: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Papua New Guinea: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Vanuatu: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Nauru: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Tuvalu: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Kiribati: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Samoa: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Tonga: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Indonesia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Philippines: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Vietnam: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Laos: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Cambodia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- South Korea: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Japan: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Maldives: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- India: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Bangladesh: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Afghanistan: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- South Yemen: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Israel: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Iraq: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Turkey: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Georgia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Armenia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Cyprus: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Mongolia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Soviet Union: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Estonia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Latvia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Lithuania: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Norway: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Sweden: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Finland: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Denmark: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Ireland: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Iceland: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- United Kingdom: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Romania: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Bulgaria: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Greece: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Albania: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Yugoslavia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Croatia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Slovenia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Hungary: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Austria: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Czechoslovakia: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Poland: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Germany: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Netherlands: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Belgium: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Luxembourg: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Liechtenstein: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Italy: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- San Marino: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Malta: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- France: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Spain: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Portugal: Admitted 2/11/1995*
- Taiwan: Admitted 2/13/1995
- Switzerland: Admitted 5/1/1995
- Egypt: Admitted 9/15/1995
- Vatican City: Admitted 12/1/1995
- Cuba: Admitted 1/4/1996
- Singapore: Admitted 9/5/1998
- Kenya: Admitted 10/7/1998
- Rwanda: Admitted 5/13/1999
- Burundi: Admitted 5/13/1999
- Hong Kong: Admitted 8/12/1999
- Macau: Admitted 8/12/1999
- Uganda: Admitted 9/21/1999
- Kuwait: Admitted 11/14/1999
- Qatar: Admitted 12/1/1999
- UAE: Admitted 1/16/2000
- Thailand: Admitted 7/1/2000
- Fiji Islands: Admitted 7/24/2000
- Solomon Islands: Admitted 8/4/2000
- Jordan: Admitted 10/13/2000
- Somalia: Admitted 9/11/2009
- Sudan: Admitted 9/11/2009
- Tunisia: Admitted 3/19/2011
- Libya:Admitted 9/8/11
Notes[]
- ↑ English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian are the most dominant of the dialects spoken in the United Democracies. Important documents are imprinted in these languages mostly.