Since the Iraq war, European governments have insisted that the United Nations should play a central role in global politics. The Obama administration shares this conviction.
But the US and EU are under pressure at the UN. Russia and China are growing increasingly assertive in the security council. An expanding coalition of developing countries resists western initiatives on human rights. Of the UN general assembly’s 192 members, nearly two-thirds (117) voted against European positions on human rights half the time or more in the last year – almost twice as many as did so ten years ago.
The EU’s opponents on human rights range from tyrannies like Sudan and Burma to major democracies like India and South Africa. They are united by suspicions of the west’s colonial ways. Quite a few European diplomats in New York and Geneva shrug off their defeats on human rights as part of an ideological game with little real impact.
But at times the game turns deadly. During this year’s bloody Sri Lankan crisis, China, Russia and India repeatedly blocked European efforts at the UN to pressure Colombo to spare endangered civilians. In recent years, the Chinese and Russians have also come to the aid of Burma’s generals and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe in the security council.
The EU and US, who want Russia and China to back tougher UN sanctions on Iran and North Korea, face a dilemma. Must they accept their ongoing loss of influence on human rights issues as the price for continued cooperation on key security concerns (not to mention collaboration with China and India on economic challenges through the G20)?
Even if western leaders opt for realpolitik over values, they can do more to stem their loss of support. The Obama administration has made a point of reaching out to moderate Asian and African states at the UN. This was enough to swing a controversial vote on monitoring human rights in Sudan the west’s way. It is too early to speak of an ‘Obama effect’ at the UN, but the US should win a few more victories in the year ahead.
The Europeans should not sit back and assume that the Americans will sort the UN out for them – indeed, US diplomats are keen to see the EU pulling its weight. As if fighting day-to-day human rights battles wasn’t trouble enough, 2011 will bring an inter-governmental review of the Human Rights Council (the UN forum in which the west usually fares worst). The US and EU should set up a working group to prepare for this, to ensure that Russia, China and their illiberal allies do not seize control of the agenda.
The EU doesn’t need to be constantly on the defensive. The European commission has set a good example this year, exploring ways that it can help fund poorer countries meet their UN human rights commitments. The EU and US may be on the losing side in many battles over human rights at the UN – but they won’t serve their values by walking away.