SHAPE (Saving Humanity And Planet Earth), based in Malaysia, organized a high-level webinar today on the theme “Reshaping Our Malfunctioning World.” Panelists including Professor Emeritus of International Law Richard Falk; Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary-General for Iraq; Vijay Prashad, of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research (a contemporary offshoot of the Frankfurt School); and Grace Naledi Pandor, former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (2019-2024). The moderator was Columbia Professor Ivana Nicolic Hughes, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
The leading themes were the failures of the UN Security Council in regard to the P5 (now better called the P1, according to Falk and others in the event), whose veto power is undercutting effective action on international security matters; proposals for reform of the UN, and recognition of effective UN agency action in other realms.
Professor Falk stressed that the UN was “designed to fail by the winners of World War II” (the P5), who have used the veto to undercut the intention embedded in the UN Charter. Prashad outlined the “new mood sweeping the South,” with the world order under challenge over resources, the dollar-based financial system, and scientific/technological progress (as in China’s high-speed rail and maglev). But there is continued global hegemony of the U.S. and NATO through information control, and huge military disparity—"do not underestimate the fear from reckless U.S. military attack in major capitals internationally.”
Minister Pandor stressed the economic and social challenges in Africa and the South: Their loss of faith in “Democracy;” the “fractured, ideologically disunified” situation, partly from the “colonial imprint”; the need to develop platforms for unity and thoughtful South-South collaboration, including strengthening the African Union; and the importance of the BRICS enlargement and discussion of a reorganized , independent international payments system and Non-Aligned Movement. She emphasized the hope from young people, as at Columbia University where she spoke on Oct. 19, with a fresh approach, concern for the oppressed ("they are not sitting by idly with the Gaza genocide and broader suffering"), and the huge pressure on attempts to shut down academic freedom.
Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, co-founder of SHAPE with Professor Falk, intervened at this point. “Preoccupation with military hegemony is not the way to go. Despite awesome U.S. military power, the U.S. has been defeated on the battlefield three times, in Vietnam, Iraq and Libya (they’ve achieved nothing but chaos).” Falk added Afghanistan to the list. “Voices of dissent have weighed in, many from the North like Jewish voices, as in the Gaza protest movements—people working together for a more just, compassionate world. Working through civil society groups for a cause, using alternative media, and working with some governments that stand up to the evil—Not as ‘Global South’ (as in a bloc system), but as individuals and groups mobilizing for humanity.”
