A global human union

For centuries powerful nations such as the US and UK have been victorious in wars fought to protect their “national interest”. Yet today they still need to engage in wars to protect their national interest. But no amount of wars can safeguard the “national interest” or “national security”. The only security comes from building a political system which respects the needs of humanity rather than pitting the interest of one “nation” against another.

That is why those who oppose warfare as the solution to political problems should also support the building of a Human Union as a political priority. We need to end the civil war of humanity and starting a Human Union is the first step to doing that.

So the real issue to campaign for in the coming election is to call on all Australian political parties to adopt a Human Union Declaration as a major policy plank. It is the one foreign policy issue worth struggling for.

The precise nature of a future Human Union is not within the scope of this article. It must at the least be built on a common commitment from its members to support some form of democracy and human rights and to acknowledge the common humanity of all human beings. In this article I also cannot answer all the questions and arguments about this concept (although I include some suggested reading at the end) but I will look at two key bodies for comparison purposes: the European Union and the United Nations.

The European Union

The standard criticisms of the EU are well known: it is too bureaucratic; its last attempt to agree on a constitution failed; its elected parliament has too little power; there is no clear unifying vision; and so on. To make the argument clear I will agree with all these criticisms. The EU is a bloated directionless over bureaucratised behemoth. Does this mean, though, that it is a failure? The answer is no, it is in fact one of the greatest international relations success stories of the last 100 years. How so?

The EU, like anything else can only be assessed by comparison with the available alternatives. For centuries, prior to its formation, Europe saw much warfare. Britain, France, and the states which were to become Germany and Italy, have engaged in some form of warfare in Europe every century since 1500, climaxing with the two world wars of the 20th century.

The EU offered an alternative to the centuries of destructive warfare. Europe was not a harmonious collection of states that co-operated easily and or shared economic growth prior to having the incompetent EU foisted upon them. Europe was a collection of unco-operative warring states which achieved highly uneven economic growth before embracing the EU.

Today many people have forgotten the horrific alternative world the EU replaced. So yes, it is over bureaucratised, unclear in its direction, and so on. But no, it is not a failure: it is actually one of the greatest political success stories of all time.

It is such a success that not only do people forget what preceded it, but they assume that it has always been the norm. Some people even make the argument that the EU has only succeeded because Europe’s common cultural heritage has made it possible. A common cultural heritage of warfare and religious, political and linguistic conflict!

The EU came into existence because far sighted visionaries transformed people’s views to such an extent that what appeared impossible 100 years ago appears conventional today.

The success of the EU shows that change is possible and that people can discover broader concepts of political identity which transcend national boundaries. The one true common identity we all share is our human identity and this must ultimately be the basis for any legitimate political system we build. It is time to start building a Human Union.

The United Nations

The UN is based on the principle of absolute respect for the sovereignty and independence of its members. This means, in effect, that membership of the UN has no effect on how member governments behave: the vilest dictatorship can be a member of equally good standing with the most benign social democracy. The UN model cannot and has not worked.