Lecture by Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran On “Contemporary International Variables and Their Impact on the International Order”

On June 22, 2022, Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, ECFA Chairman, delivered a lecture entitled “Contemporary International Variables and Their Impact on the International Order” before the “Egyptian Association for Political Economy, Statistics and Legislation”, within the framework of the latter’s cultural season. His speech focused on the international order that was established after World War II, and the challenges that afflicted it throughout its history, leading to the Covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions, as well as the acute Ukrainian crisis that witnessed an armed conflict since February 24, 2022, touching on the opportunities for reforming the current international order and the extent of its ability to maintain international peace and security, as he addressed the issue of the veto right of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the issue of amending the Charter, in addition to the danger posed by the permanent member states, in connection with their retention of nuclear arsenals, and working to develop them, thus threatening all mankind.

In this context, Ambassador Zahran indicated that the Security Council has proven its failure in the decisive positions that it experienced, from the Korean War to the Ukraine War, and even amid the Covid-19 crisis, indicating that the United Nations Charter was born with flaws, and it currently contains articles that are outdated, such as the articles of International Trusteeship System, and the Trusteeship and Decolonization Council, but its amendment is almost impossible, indicating that it was amended only twice to expand the Security Council; Although the Charter opened the way for the possibility of amending it in accordance with Articles 108 and 109 thereof, it has become impossible to amend the Charter since the establishment of the organization due to the necessity for any amendment to obtain a two-thirds majority, including the votes of each of the permanent members of the Security Council, and the ratification of the amendment by its legislative bodies, which is practically impossible to implement.

He also pointed out in this regard that the U.S. violated the United Nations Charter very shortly after the Charter was drawn up when it struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki with two atomic bombs, which is considered a crime of genocide that must not be forgotten. It also violated several times the non-expansion of NATO to the east, and in the last time; i.e. prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it refused to provide written guarantees to Russian President Putin in this regard, and so it was war. In this context, Ambassador Zahran affirmed that the multilateral global order, which began with the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, will not change except through war, as it originally appeared. Therefore, the possibility of an expansion of the Russia-Ukraine war is possible.