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Ningbo, China — The general debate at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly concluded Monday, with the representatives of 192 sovereign countries in attendance. The annual assembly brings many of the most powerful leaders of the world to New York. This included U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among many others.

Despite growing criticism over its inability to solve global problems, the United Nations is still important as the only place where the nations of the world are seeking common solutions to global issues.

Many realists describe the current international system of governance as a state of anarchy, since nation states are unwilling to submit themselves to the rule of the United Nations or any other world body. Still, with sovereign states at the top of the governance hierarchy, the importance of the United Nations cannot be denied. It plays a critical role in promoting global cooperation and healthy international relations.

During the Cold War the United Nations sometimes became a venue for quarrels and even curses among member states. Still, this doesn’t prove the organization was impotent. The eventual end of the Cold War can be ascribed largely to the role of the United Nations as an arbitrator between the two superpowers, the former Soviet Union and the United States. The fact that the Cold War did not grow hot can be attributed at least in part to the availability of the United Nations as a venue for discussion.

It is true that at the present time every nation state is primarily bent on strengthening its own economic and political power. The pursuit of national interest on the part of each member state prevents the United Nations from functioning as a world government.

Yet when it comes to emerging global issues affecting the safety of our planet, and crises that require a higher view than that of the nation state, the United Nations is indispensable. It is irreplaceable in humanitarian work such as handling natural disasters, providing emergency food supplies and supporting sustainable development, for example.

The United Nations was created out of hope and idealism, and has served as a symbol of human progress and development. It evolved from the League of Nations established after World War I, promoted by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who had a vision of a world government that would overcome power politics and guarantee perpetual world peace. Nearly a century later, Wilson is still credited with making the world more integrated and convergent.

The United Nations is still engaged in the task of trying to build a better world. The Millennium Development Goals are a good example. They represent a coordinated effort to resolve some of the world’s most intractable problems, including ending poverty and hunger, providing universal education, improving people’s health and protecting the environment.

The United Nations has also been the place where international norms, principles and rules are defined. The U.N. Charter and the many conventions and treaties adopted by member states have created a framework within which governments are expected to function. The institution has played a significant role in the process of setting standards and the codification of international law.

Thanks to globalization, domestic affairs and global affairs have become intertwined, so it is no longer possible for governments to ignore international standards and expectations. National economies benefit from the global economy and international cooperation becomes essential even in the pursuit of national interest.

From the political point of view, the United Nations gives national leaders a role on the global stage, which can encourage them to be more responsible. On the other hand, it can also allow irresponsible leaders to borrow power through their association with other powerful leaders. Some heads of state take advantage of their presence on the world stage to promote themselves or their policies without regard for the global interest. From this perspective, the world conforms to the realist’s theory of anarchy in that such leaders are ultimately answerable to no one.

"The central and overarching objective of this 63rd session of the General Assembly will be to democratize our United Nations," said former Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, president of the current General Assembly. “In so doing we will ensure that the United Nations maintains its place as the world's most important and indispensable organization.”

Brockmann advocates a larger role for the General Assembly in relation to the Security Council, which often makes important decisions, and whose five permanent members have veto power. He would prefer decision-making power to be more evenly spread among the governments of the world.

With nearly every government in the world a member, the United Nations is still the most powerful international, intercultural and interreligious entity on the planet. As such, its role in world affairs is irreplaceable.

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(Dr. Zhang Quanyi is associate professor at Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a guest researcher at the Center for the Study of Non-traditional Security and Peaceful Development at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. His research interest revolves around the creation of a world state. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@gmail.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi)