“In an effort to increase the relevance of, and confidence in, the United Nations, which was created 60 years ago to prevent a repetition of World War II, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on March 21 presented several proposals for reform of the world body to reflect the changed nature of global conflicts since 1945. The title of his 63-page report is “In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All.”
In the biggest reinterpretation, he asks the Security Council, in place of the traditional sacrosanctity of national sovereignty, to deem mass murder, repression and ethnic cleansing to be threats to international peace and security that the international community has the right to intervene to stop — and to adopt a set of principles to ensure that such intervention takes place only when there is no other option.
In another bold step, he proposes a succinct definition of terrorism and the creation of an international convention against it, along with strengthened controls on weapons to stop terrorists from getting their hands on them.
In case you think that’s easy, remember that diplomats have been tying themselves in knots over a definition of terrorism since even before Sept. 11, 2001.” Full Article (Subscription or free Site Pass required)