Three pillars for the World Union
Three pillars for the World Union
United Nations – United Mankind – United Religions
I am writing this article on the occasion of the ‘12 Days of World Federalism’ proclaimed by the Canadian World Federalists. The political unification of humanity in a federal world union is the great goal of our century. I have explained in my article ‘Global empire or federal world union?’ why this must not become a centralised world state, but a democratic world federation. And in my article ‘The world union of mankind’, I explained why we absolutely need a federal world union if humanity wants to survive in a good future. Today I want to explain the three pillars on which a world federation should be built.
United Nations Organisation
In its current state, the United Nations would not be suitable as a pillar for a world federation. The national interests of most of its member states would not allow this either. They are not prepared to surrender parts of their sovereignty to the UN for the good of humanity. The UN Summit for the Future currently taking place in New York will not produce anything that is needed to tackle the world's current and future problems, apart from colourful pictures, big words and vague declarations of intent. In view of this, the ‘UN Pact for the Future’ adopted by the Assembly is completely inadequate. The United Nations is hopelessly outdated and urgently needs to be reformed.
Since the ‘Promise of San Francisco’, the reform of the UN has been an issue blocked by the UN member states, who have simply stopped paying attention to it. A whole range of organisations and groups from civil society have now taken up the issue. It seems to be a viable way to legally enforce a revision of the UN Charter. There is even already a draft of a revised charter. However, this requires a certain number of states. Civil society has no authority to do this.
This is the transition to the next pillar. In addition to the perhaps insightful politicians in the nations, we also need the people who elect and support these politicians. To this end, some civil society organisations should give up their egocentric fantasies of huge movements and start doing solid public relations work, reaching out to ordinary people on the street. It is not enough to post naive memes on X from time to time. That requires a completely different quality.
United Mankind Organisation
In my previous articles and most recently in the article ‘United Mankind Initiative - founding and development’, I have described why a second world organisation is necessary alongside the United Nations. If the world federation is to become a reality at some point, it needs people who are committed to it. Unfortunately, in many countries this is currently going in the opposite direction. For example in Germany, where a right-wing nationalist party is once again winning elections and wants to turn back the clock to the beginning of the 20th century. We urgently need a United Mankind Organisation as a bulwark against this.
In the social media Reddit, the question was raised as to whether the love of home or country (patriotism) is compatible with world federalism. The individual emotional attachment to the country in which one was born or to the landscape in which one feels comfortable and wants to live is not at odds with world federalism. Of course, patriotism must not turn into nationalism by placing one's own country above other countries and peoples. That would be incompatible with world federalism because it would destroy the principles of federalism. But nobody would necessarily have to love a future world federation as much as they love their own country. World federalism is nothing other than the system of a reasonable alliance of convenience in which everyone can live well and happily in their beloved country without having to be afraid of other countries. Communicating this to people would be a central task for the United Mankind organisation.
The new world organisation would then also be the engine for the unification of humanity in every country. This is not possible without as many people as possible. ‘We The Peoples’ must no longer remain an empty slogan. So far, there has been hardly any response from civil society. But my campaign for the United Mankind Initiative has only been running for three months. And the disappointments about the UN Summit for the Future still have to sink in. Then one or other NGO will decide whether it is worth continuing to run pointlessly on the hamster wheel of the current UN system or whether it is worth taking a new way. One does not exclude the other.
United Religions Organisation
I envisage a United Religions Organisation as the third pillar for the world federation. Religions continue to exert a strong influence on a large part of humanity. The spectrum ranges from intolerant fanaticism to selfless altruism. Just as the world is constantly changing, so too are religions. What seemed like unbearable tyranny yesterday can have a beneficial effect today. We should recognise the positive potential and not be discouraged by the dark sides of religions. These are largely based on the ignorance of misguided people. For centuries, they have been mercilessly exploited by unscrupulous rulers for their own purposes. See Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. It doesn't have to stay that way.
The ‘World Interfaith Harmony Week’ stands for the good sides of religions and their positive similarities. On 20 October 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared the first week of February of each year as World Interfaith Harmony Week between all religions, faiths and beliefs with Resolution A/RES/65/PV.34. The unanimously adopted proposal came from H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan. The General Assembly, building on its efforts to promote a culture of peace and non-violence, wanted to highlight the importance that mutual understanding and interfaith dialogue can play in developing a creative culture of peace and non-violence. The General Assembly resolution recognised ‘the urgent need for dialogue among different faiths and religions to promote mutual understanding, harmony and cooperation among people’.
The world federalists should take a close look at the possibilities of bringing world federalism closer to religious people. The Roman Catholic Church already has a door open with the encyclical ‘Fratelli tutti’. There is a ‘Parliament of the World's Religions’ and a ‘United Religions Initiative’ already exists. And lo and behold, a transnational working group on the subject has been set up at WFM/IGP. So something is happening. See also the following article United Religions - by Richard Maxheim (substack.com) .