Experts say U.N. reform should make unilateral actions less likely

Published: 2004-04-16

ROME (CNS) -- The situation in Iraq points out the need for reform of the United Nations -- but the goal should be to make war less likely, not easier for single states to wage, said participants in a Rome conference. Cardinal Renato R. Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said strengthening the U.N. role would help offset the dangerous trend toward unilateral decisions on war and peace. "No single political state, however strong it is, is able to assure a just peace for the planet and the realization of the common good," Cardinal Martino said April 16. He said U.N. reform was more urgent today because of a growing lack of respect for international law in a world marked by terrorism, an "ambiguous" globalization and the temptation of unilateralism. The weakening of international law has thrown international organizations into crisis, the cardinal said. He emphasized that the fight against terrorism cannot simply bypass international law, which the church considers an "irreplaceable element of the universal common good."

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