Changes in Global Justice and International Order - Essay Example

Changes in Global Justice and International Order As the world and human civilizations continue to change, the nature and perception of what amounts to human rights also continue to change. Things that were not considered as a necessity in terms of liberties and freedoms to the human now make a better sense to the human rights campaigners. Social and cultural differences that the modern times have with a few decades ago can assist in definition of the extent to which these changes take place today1. Despite the huge departure in the perceptions held about certain liberties and freedoms, the definition of justice and its application across the global borders exposes the achievements of the human civilization into focus. Whereas justice seems to have made tremendous developments in realizing several important milestones when compared with the past experiences with justice, a skewed implementation among certain global societies open criticism to the current justice system. Whether trends of integration of liberal principles into mainframe justice system across the world enable the world to be a better place to live in brings the overall milestone into a focus critical focus. From different perspectives, the developments in the international order and justice possess positive attributes as it does bear negative connotations. Among the most celebrated developments that every individual living in the current civilization would gladly acknowledge is the upholding of democracy and elimination of hardcore dictatorial regimes. In the mid 20th Centuries, reorganization of the global community and subsequent inception of global organizations, most notably the League of Nations which bore the current United Nations paved the way for a different paradigm in global politics2. A cohesive watch on every corner of the world by every stakeholder in the United Nations ensured that justice and political responsibility continue to form fundamental yardstick to measure liberation levels of a society. Despite the developments in political and social scenes that the global attention was directed into, rooted economic interest form part of the policy fronts that nations protect in order to remain sustainable. Cooperation in socioeconomic and political fronts at the international level presents a triad of factors that determine how nations rank in delivering justice to the citizenry. At the international level, the ground continues to level for players to cross the borders to explore the opportunities available away from their motherland. With similar trends dating back to the period when rush for overseas territories almost generated fully-fledged wars, nations in the developed world continue to flock at the international resources front to flex their muscles in wielding dominance. Redirection of resources from one point of the world to another creates some form of tension that overrides justice principles and fairness. Fairness in the modern justice system at the global level seems to be a remotely attainable fact, despite continued insistence by global leaders that the world needs political and economic justice at the standards currently set and agreed upon3. As proponents of democratic models of administration and leadership of the global civilization, western nations managed to rally the developed world ideology and their domination in economic and social organization of the global affairs took the shape of their interests4. Every institution across government, society, economic and cultural thinking became open for the liberal philosophy, with the majority wielding the central authority. In terms of the positive influence that these changes introduced into the organization of the society, many loopholes of the previously uncontrolled political power became within reach for the marginalized fractions of the society. The importance of politics in a global system that was sired out of political cooperation and ousting of teething global challenges witnessed a few decades ago demonstrates the extent to which politics and human development remain inseparable. Absence of credible society institution that can wield the mandate to provide different society needs perhaps makes political institutions as the undoubted custodians of every aspect of the civilization development. As an illustration, the political class possesses the only framework to provide authenticity to leadership and provide for the other needs that the society may have. Lack of political morality does not automatically make politics and the political class unnecessary and unfit to carry out various civilization functionalities and observe human rights. Justice levels in the society could experience a certain level of improvement but rooted interests in the powerful individuals could still fall prey to their manipulation. As an illustration, the central role played by the political elite in the policy formulation of the society makes politics above other civilization concepts5. Economic decisions interference from the political elite implies that the lucrative global business opportunity remain at the firm grip of political leadership that controls the direction of power and dominance in global affairs. Interference of social policies by the elite political class in the global space makes it a complicated system that will not experience a dramatic change as long as the political role in global affairs takes the driver’s seat. It implies that the role of politics in the running of different civilization need is powerful as it stands currently than would be necessary for a fair implementation of justice across various needs of the human civilization today. Human rights definition for every individual in the world today is at the mercy of a few global political players that influence the direction that global affairs take. Political morality as a counter thought has emerged as a thought that critiques the role of responsibility for political power to allow human rights and development in other senses of the civilization without interference and complication. Among the main parameters that form the basis of the assessment of the appropriateness of the global justice is the level of inequalities that continue to exist in various societies across the world. In a more just human society devoid of political immorality and self-centeredness, it would perhaps be easier to envision a world without chronic hunger, teething poverty, poor leadership among many other development challenges. Countries in the developing world continue to come to terms with business challenges such as trade sanctions just because their leaders may be tainted as the rest of the world keeps them deliberately isolated. Lack of education among the developed world populations implies that they cannot develop innovative ways to combat their daily challenges. Justice to human rights would entail that the international cooperation spoken about by the developed world cutting the challenges cycle instead of offering them aid. Political justice and political morality must characterize the ideal society that boasts of developments that the modern civilization claims. Whereas tremendous achievements such as those sustained through the creation of a democratic society across the world are impressive, the interpretation of the consequences of political dominance on every human being in an equitable way still remain an elusive topic6. Despite the rich history that liberal tradition has in ousting barbaric political power, willingness of the human society to entrench a justice system that respects the origin of the donated people’s power still remain faces challenges. Political questions emerge in every human achievement and equality would be achieved in a world where achievement of the milestones boasted by the western world start to be witnessed spontaneously around the world7. As mentioned above, various sections of the global poor populations continue to languish in poverty and the type of assistance obtained from the international community, ironically, does not contain sufficient capacity enhancement to overcome the poverty cycle. Challenges that such a poor community faces can be overcome if the appropriate empowerment and development needs are attended to, perhaps at a lower cost than the direct aid obtained. Political dominance of the powerful nations and their bossing tendencies on the poor nations also emerge in trade practices, where restrictions are slapped on the smaller nations to such an extent that they will never be at par in attaining their separate interests. Politicians in the powerful regimes therefore hijack the humanitarian concept of international interaction between members of the international community since they want to protect their strategic political interests at the mercy of human rights that such equality flaws compromise. Western nations monitoring of the developing nations’ development agenda takes advantage of the short term needs and competition for the business opportunities that those nations have make the entire cooperation process vulnerable to manipulation by the bigger powers. Obstruction of a healthy interaction without restrictions makes it difficult for the human rights space in the developing world to rise above the current challenges facing them, yet the west is always critical of the pace of attaining growth in various human rights aspects. The people in developed world and the developing world experience different settings in their encounter with human rights interpretation. The minimalism concept widely discussed by philosophers such as Cohen demonstrates the basic most understanding with which every human being must approach human rights. Whereas the development attributes in which the two settings expose the individuals are different, the interpretation of the moral value in practicing human rights to every global citizen remains the same. It therefore implies that the drive to discharge political duties to citizens of a particular country must also form the motivation to create such an environment for any other nation. The duties of the global citizens must include caring for and providing an enabling environment that supports human rights, which is perhaps not the case within modern politics. Considering the setting that the global setting offers to every member of the international community, the global citizenry concept elevates every person to a status of enjoyment that any other person can claim in their nation. It therefore implies that the human rights campaigners and civil rights societies at the global level must bring into focus all politically originated polices that continue to marginalize the developing world leading to flouting of human rights principles. Whereas the role of individuals in the global platform may be more and different than those in their localized capacities, cooperation may bring their voices together to champion for improved human rights setting than currently possible8. Global justice would perhaps be improved if the political structure at the global level continues to integrate the members of the lesser nations. Such incorporation would improve the confidence and esteem that the international status requires, since marginalization factors would also make the developing world feel isolated and secluded. In view of the heightened cooperation setting that the regional blocks in the developed world have, such as the European Union, it is difficult for people from the other regions of the world to enjoy the privileges that they selfishly guard9. The restrictions set to trade with the regional blocs justify the existence of unfair operation between the developed world and the rest of the developing world. The various categories of human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights imply that the vested interests in pursuing other projects. Apparently, the inequality in provision of justice across the international partnerships demonstrates the self-centeredness in dealing with international policies10. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights would not be meaningful in global affairs if the global players complied with protection of basic human rights. Stating the human rights and making a commitment for their universal application was the step taken by the international politics fraternity but the equal implementation falls short of the political willingness across the world. However, with the selective implementation and protection of the human rights by nations and blocs will continue to hamper the creation of a humane society. Ironically, decision making for vital international policies seems to rest in the hands of the few political elite. In view of the impact generated by a selective protection of human rights in political and economic policies design at the international arena, equality seems destined to take a long time of elusiveness11. Within the continued globalization and integration of global systems in the global village, a complicated system of global challenges facing the western nations seems to lead to a more skewed focus on global equality in human rights and justice system. Bibliography Cohen, Joshua. “Minimalism About Human Rights: The Most We Can Hope For,” Journal of Political, 12.2(2004):190-213 Donnelly, Jack. “The Relative Universality of Human rights,” Human Rights Quarterly, 29.2(2007):281-306, 284 Goodale, Mark. & Engle, Sarah. The Practice of Human Rights: Tracking Law Between the Global and the Local, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007) 102 ICHRP. Human Rights After September 11, (Versolx, International Council on Human rights Policy, 2002) Ignatieff, Michael. “The Attack on Human Rights,” Foreign Affairs, 80.6(2001):102-116, 105 Rawls, John. “The Law of Peoples,” 1999, accessed September 28, 2012, http://www.hjil.org/ArticleFiles/23_3_65.pdf Raz, Joseph. The Morality of Freedom (New York: Oxford, 1986), 165-213 Sen, Amartya. “Democracy as a Universal Value,” Journal of Democracy, 10(1999)3-17, 12 Simmons, Beth. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009) Wiktor, Osiatynski. Human Rights and Their Limits, (New York Cambridge University Press, 2009) Read More