Community & Voices | Page 4

December 2019

Star Trek Beams Down to the CGS Annual Meeting

Citizens for Global Solutions hosted Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, at its Annual Meeting in Los Angeles for a conversation with CGS policy director Tad Daley on the parallels between the show's United Federation of Planets and a real-world world federation. Roddenberry endorsed the idea of global government and discussed how his father used the Enterprise's diverse crew to challenge racial and national divisions during the Cold War era.

Voices in Community & Voices

June 2020

Existing Legal Limits to Security Council Veto Power in the Face of Atrocity Crimes

by Jennifer Trahan

This article examines the legal limits on the UN Security Council veto power, arguing that the P5 cannot use it to block measures against atrocity crimes. It explores three legal arguments demonstrating that the veto is constrained by international law, including jus cogens norms and the UN Charter.
June 2020

The Overarching Importance of Planned Giving

by Larry M. David

This article emphasizes the critical role of planned giving and estate planning in sustaining Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS). It argues that supporting CGS ensures the persistence of a vision for a global federation and a better future for humanity.
June 2020

The UN at 75: The world planned a party. . . . Then the coronavirus showed up.

by Fergus Watt and Jeffery Huffines

The article discusses the UN's 75th anniversary commemoration, highlighting the initial plans for global dialogues and multilateralism. Despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the core push for renewing and strengthening the UN system remains strong.
June 2019

The United Nations as a Values-based Community

by Otto Spijkers

The United Nations, often dismissed as a paper-producing body with no enforcement power, functions most valuably as a global town meeting where a shared moral language and consensus on universal values are forged through ongoing deliberation among all nations. Drawing on Jan Pronk's concept of the UN as a values-based community, the author argues that this deliberative process is the organization's core strength and the foundation for legitimate global decision-making.
June 2019

Reimagining Your United Nations through Model UN (MUN)

by Andrea Klein Bergman

The Workable World Trust uses Model United Nations conferences to introduce Joe Schwartzberg's Security Council reform proposal, which replaces the five-member veto system with 12 regional blocs and weighted voting across all 193 UN member states. A pilot at Mexico City's MIMUN 2019 found that students debating under the reform model produced a unanimous resolution, while reverting to traditional rules saw P5 veto power block the same measure.
June 2019

My Friend Harris Wofford Jr. 1926-2019: Prophet of a United States of the World

by Tad Daley

Tad Daley profiles Harris Wofford Jr., the late U.S. senator and JFK confidant who in 1942 founded the Student Federalists, a nationwide youth movement calling for a federal world republic after World War II. The Student Federalists grew to 367 campus chapters by 1947 and merged into the United World Federalists, the organization that became Citizens for Global Solutions.
June 2019

“Straight Talk on Trade” by Dani Rodrik

by Evan Freund

Harvard economist Dani Rodrik's book 'Straight Talk on Trade' (Princeton University Press, 2018) argues that global governance should protect national democratic policy space rather than maximize economic integration, challenging the Chicago school's faith in autonomous markets. The reviewer finds Rodrik's 'federation lite' model useful for federalists but incomplete, because it underestimates how transnational political movements increasingly shape domestic trade and market stability.
December 2019

Representation at a Global Level: The Model United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

by Emilia Ismael and Clara Subirachs

This article details a Model United Nations Parliamentary Assembly event in Argentina, designed to simulate global governance and raise awareness among students. The simulation focused on key global issues, including environmental preservation, energy transition, and human rights, emphasizing the need for global citizenship.
December 2019

ICRtoP Update

by Marijke Kremin

The International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) recently monitored key debates on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), highlighting prevention activities like veto restraint and combating hate speech. The organization also hosted panels focusing on young women's role in conflict prevention and provided training on early warning signs of atrocities.
December 2019

COPLA Update

by Camila López Badra

This article provides an update on the COPLA campaign, which aims to establish a Latin American and Caribbean Criminal Court to combat transnational organized crime. The initiative has received support from various political forums and emphasizes the need for international cooperation and civil society involvement.
December 2019

The Crime of Aggression by Noah Weisbord

by Editorial

Noah Weisbord's The Crime of Aggression: The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats offers an insider account of efforts to incorporate the crime of aggression into the International Criminal Court, drawing on Weisbord's personal involvement in its codification. The book examines how norms of international humanitarian law must adapt to modern warfare, including drone strikes and cyberattacks.
December 2019

The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power

by Editorial

Samantha Power's memoir The Education of an Idealist traces her path from a childhood in Ireland through her work as a war correspondent in Bosnia to her roles as a human rights advisor on the National Security Council and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama. Power reflects candidly on her idealism and her efforts to advance human rights within the constraints of American foreign policy.