Essay on “The Concept of World Government” Complete Essay for Class 9, Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The Concept of World Government

Outlines: The concept of the world government has been particularly urgent since the end of World War II. It was felt, during the war itself, that war as a means of solving international disputes had become unnecessary and out of date. The nation state system of solving international disputes was said to have been rendered obsolete by the social, economic, and technological interdependence of nations on one another. It was feared that the third world war, which would be a nuclear war and a more terrible one than the two World Wars in which mankind had paid a huge cost in terms of men and material, should be avoided at all cost; and the only way to avoid it was to establish a world government. Such compelling considerations exercised a noticeable influence on the thinking and the efforts of the governments, and the leaders of public thought and action in a number of countries. The idea of world government began to gather momentum. In 1945, at the University of Chicago, a Committee to frame World Constitution was formed; the Committee conducted studies held a number of conferences and prepared a preliminary draft of a world constitution. In 1946, a World Movement for World Federal Government was organised in Luxembourg to work towards the goal of the world government. Some people took the view that the United Nations itself, with appropriate changes or improvements, could be looked upon as the world government. Proposals came to be advanced for the improvement or reform for this purpose. In 1946, a Citizens Committee was organised, which pleaded for the replacement of the UN veto by an all-nation control of armament. Around 1952, a British Parliamentary Group for World Government put forward alternative plans to strengthen the UN. Thus, efforts continued to be made towards the goal of the world government.

There are a number of a factors which can help in the realization of the goal of the world government, while there are others which hinder it. Of the factors which can help in the realisation of the goal of the world government, the foremost can be said to be : (1) the increasing interdependence of nations on one another, and (2) the increasingly important revolution in the means of transport and communication. As experience has shown, interdependence and cooperation among nations in the matters of agriculture, industry, trade, commerce, aviation, telecommunication’, and so on, have become increasingly necessary; and a number of international agencies like the FAO, WHO, UNESCO, ECAFE GATT and IBRD are trying to bring about the much needed communication and cooperation among the different nations in the world. In other words, in all these spheres—economic, technological, industrial, social and cultural—nations have already demonstrated their willingness to share their knowledge and resources in a common endeavour to solve their problems; the international agencies or organisations may be said to be international government of a kind, in the sense that they are created by nations, and their laws or rules are observed by them.

The interdependence and cooperation among the nations are rendered vastly easier and more desirable by the increasingly important revolution in the means of transport and communication. This revolution has made possible enormous saving of time, has annihilated distances and brought the nations near to one another like next-door neighbours. The revolution in the means of transport and communication has not only annihilated the physical or geographical distances but has also greatly helped to reduce the social, psychological, or cultural distances among the different peoples in the world. With the increasingly important role played by the fast trains, ships, planes, radio and television—which will become a reality on an international scale within a foreseeable future—it has become possible for the peoples of the different nations to think, feel, and act alike, like members of a single community. It has become possible today to create and effectively mobilize the world public opinion. The amazing advances in technology and communication have placed at the disposal of the peoples in the world such means, that it has become possible for them to organise and conduct their business or solve their problems by the conference methods, or the face-to-face meetings of leaders of the different nations.

The third factor which has lent a sense of urgency to the problem of the world government, is the fear of the all-destructive nuclear war which makes a nonsense of victory or defeat, since it will not leave any victors to enjoy the fruits of victory. Hence, there is a growing feeling, as we have already noted above, among the thinking people in the world, that the present world order which, by its very logic, will inevitably lead us to the all-destructive war, should be replaced by a world government which can banish war, establish peace, and create conditions for the progress and happiness of mankind. It is felt that taking the UN (which has already worked pretty successfully in the nonpolitical field, though not so successfully in the political field) as a rudimentary world government, and basing our hopes on the increasingly encouraging, Popular, and rewarding experience of the working of international organisations of military, political, economic, fiscal, and administrative nature, like the NATO, SEATO, CENTO, OAS, the Commonwealth, the European Common Market, the COMECON and so on—a beginning should be made of the eventual establishment of the world government.

However, there are a number of factors which definitely slow down and make difficult, if not impossible, the establishment of a world government. The most important of these factors is the existing nation state system with its corollaries of nationalism and sovereignty. The very essence of the nation state system is the nations’ monopoly of power, which they can use for the ends they choose to realise. Internally, within their own territories, the monopoly is unlimited; externally, in relation to the other nations, the only limitation on the monopoly is the exercise of monopoly power by the other nations. The world government can be established only if the monopoly of power is given up in its favour. The crucial question is: will the nations voluntarily give up their monopoly of power in favour of the world government, or can they be made to do so? There is no simple or easy answer to this question. Nations, to exist as nations and not as units of the world government, must have monopoly of power. To expect the nations to be prepared to function as units of the world government is to expect them to issue a self-denying ordinance on themselves. The weak and backward nations which do not have much power or prestige to lose, may, sometime in future, find it possible to give up the monopoly of their power in favour of the world government. But the strong and prosperous nations, which have much power and prestige to lose, may not find it possible to give up their monopoly of power in favour of the world government. The question of making nations give up their monopoly of power is still more difficult. Who or what will make them give up their monopoly? Only some kind of universal catastrophe may force them to surrender their monopoly powers in favour of some world agency’ or world government; or some kind of world government may force them to surrender their monopoly powers. But, both these are difficult to happen; while the catastrophe is improbable„ the world government itself is in question, so the question of its forcing the nations to surrender their monopoly powers does not arise at this stage.

Under these circumstances, the only force which can help in the eventual establishment of the world government is the progressive realisation, on the part of the nations, of the undesirability of continuing the nation state system with its patent evils, and replacing it by some kind of world government which can prevent war, establish peace, and create conditions for harmony and happiness for the peoples of the world. As we have seen above, the increasing interdependence and the revolution in the means of transport and communication are already bringing about, on the part of the nations, an increasing realisation of the desirability of the world government. Also, as we have noted above, the experiment of international government, particularly in the nonpolitical field, has been encouragingly successful. In view of these, the goal of international government, in the political field too, should not be impossible, especially when with men’s constant struggle for reaching the different planets, building space stations, and populating the planets if possible—even the prospect of interstellar government is not considered impossible.