2020 Global Order Colloquium Report and Thought Pieces

In recognition of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Perry World House convened its annual Global Order Colloquium, “The UN at 75: Coronavirus and Competition” to discuss the UN at 75 and the future of global governance in an age of great power competition and at a moment of global crisis. 

Colloquium Report

In an era of intensifying competition between great powers and amid a historic, global crisis in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, where does the United Nations stand?

Our new report explores this crucial question. It synthesizes conversations from across the three days of our recent colloquium, "The UN at 75: Coronavirus and Competition", to consider the promise and realities of the UN system, as well as global governance and international cooperation more broadly.  

It expands on the issues and insights highlighted in these discussions, and raises open questions for researchers and policymakers as they look at how the UN is handling this moment of crisis, and how it and its subsidiary organizations might be reformed.

Thought Pieces

Human Rights

The UN at 75 and Human Rights by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, Perry World House Professor of Practice of Law and Human Rights, University of Pennsylvania 

What systemic reforms are needed to better protect international human rights through the UN? by Bathsheba Crocker, Vice President for Humanitarian Policy and Practice, CARE

Neither Heaven Nor Hell: The Broader/Deeper Tradeoff for Human Rights at the UN by Francesca Parente, Global Order Postdoctoral Fellow, Perry World House

Global Governance and the Development of the COVID-19 Vaccine by Kathryn Sikkink, Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Reform and the Future of the UN

What Future for the United States and the United Nations? Republican rhetoric on the UN is damaging; a sustained defense from Democrats could help by Erin R. Graham, Associate Professor of Politics, Drexel University

Promoting Reform of UN Specialized Agencies by Mark Groombridge, Senior Research Analyst, Global Communicators

What is the single most important reform of the UN that could help it function more effectively? What is the single biggest factor preventing such reform? by Alanna O'Malley, Special Professor of United Nations Studies in Peace and Justice, Leiden University

Can Multilateralism Backpedal? by Erik Voeten, Peter F. Krogh Professor of Geopolitics and Global Justice, Georgetown University

What is the single most important reform of the UN that could help it function more effectively? What is the single biggest factor preventing such reform? by James Raymond Vreeland, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

Global Health

Vaccine Nationalism May Revolutionize Global Health (Again) by Thomas J. Bollyky, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development and Director of the Global Health Program, Council on Foreign Relations

Global infectious disease governance: Getting off the WHO reform merry-go-round by Kelley Lee, Professor, Canada Research Chair Tier I, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Reimagining Global Health Governance by Jennifer Prah-Ruger, Amartya Sen Professor of Health Equity, Economics, and Policy, University of Pennsylvania

International Security

What's the UN Security Council For? by Sergio Aguirre, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, WestExec Advisors and William Wagner, Senior Policy Adviser, U.S. Mission to the United Nations (published in Survival)

The Intricacies of UN Security Council Reform by Martin Binder, Associate Professor in International Relations, University of Reading and Monika Heupel, Professor of Political Science, University of Bamberg (published in Survival)

UN Peacekeeping After the Pandemic: An Increased Role for Intelligence by Allison Carnegie, Associate Professor of Political Science, Columbia University and Austin Carson, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago (published in Survival)

Resolving the Dilemma of USNC Reform by Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University Singapore (published in Survival)