Community of Democracies: Reforming the UN from Within
02 June 2006; "Cleaning Up the UN in an Age of U.S. Hegemony" by Radek Sikorski

In the June 2005 issue of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Commentary, Radek Sikorski argues that the Community of Democracies is the best hope for reforming the United Nations from within.  As a democracy caucus with a majority vote, Sikorski argues, the Community of Democracies can “restore the moral authority” of the UN as an organization truly dedicated to human rights.  He notes that the U.N. is currently dominated by voting blocs according to regional and development lines that obstruct the ability of the organization to make principled, just decisions, increasingly pitting the organization irreconcilably against values and interests of the United States and other developed democracies. 

Sikorski asserts that even though the UN in its current form is defunct the legitimacy that comes with acting in a multilateral context is essential. The Community of Democracies addresses this problem by creating a “coalition of principle,” that can harness the majority votes needed to prevent the UN from becoming irrelevant by steering it on to a democratic path toward the principles of universal human rights and genuine inter-state cooperation on which it was founded. Sikorski explains, however, “International organizations only have as much power as their members are willing to give them.” Therefore, democratic countries must make it a policy to work to strengthen the Community of Democracies in order to realize its full potential.

Radek Sikorski is currently Polish Minister of National Defence. He was formerly director of the New Atlantic Initiative at the American Enterprise Institute and former deputy minister of defense and of foreign affairs in Poland.

For another view on an alliance of democracies, check out James M. Lindsay and Ivo H. Daalder's "An Alliance of Democracies".