In order to prevent global conflicts and effectively tackle issues like crime, trafficking, and human rights abuses, the United Nations must be reformed into a fully functional world government.

The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have highlighted, with alarming clarity, the urgent need for a functional global government equipped with a standing army. Despite the world’s staggering $1.7 trillion annual military expenditure and a collective standing force of 22 million, the threat of catastrophic war looms ever larger. The current framework is failing to secure peace, and should an all-out war erupt under these circumstances, humanity faces the grim and inevitable prospect of annihilation.

If United Nations peacekeeping forces were converted into a permanent world army, global stability could be maintained with just one-twentieth of the current expenditure and manpower. The significant savings in capital and resources could then be redirected towards more creative and productive pursuits, addressing pressing global issues like international crime, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. These crises are growing rapidly, leveraging the barriers between nations, and since individual countries are increasingly powerless to control them, the need for a global standing police force becomes apparent.

However, the United Nations has become a paralyzed entity, unable to act effectively due to the deadlock among its Security Council’s permanent members. This paralysis has left the world helpless as tens of millions of lives have been lost over the past 80 years. Moreover, global problems such as the trafficking of over 40 million people, drug trafficking amounting to $4 trillion, global pandemics, around 70 million refugees, and some 1.5 billion people living in extreme poverty represent challenges that can only be tackled by a fully functioning world government. We can build such an institution, tentatively called the United Nations of the World (UNW), by reconstituting the UN General Assembly more rationally and eliminating the veto power of its Security Council’s permanent members.

To create the UNW, the veto rights of the permanent members of the UN Security Council must be revoked. Instead, a new World General Assembly must be established that reflects each member country’s overall national strength, applying only a majority vote rule. The current system, where countries like China—with a population of 1.4 billion—and Tokelau—with a population of only about 1,400—have the same voting rights, is inherently unjust and serves to justify the use of veto power, thus perpetuating the paralysis of the UN.

To resolve this, the General Assembly must allocate seats to each country based on a calculation that weighs GDP (gross domestic product) and trade at a ratio of 5:5. The number of seats would then be adjusted every five years to reflect changes in each country’s national strength.

Existing international organizations are inherently fragile and unable to safeguard the current liberal democratic order. History has repeatedly shown that the liberal democratic system is vulnerable and can be easily undermined. To preserve it, the UNW would need to establish a Tribunal Branch, which would check the power of the Executive Branch and oversee the management of elections, media, and communications in each member state.

The United Nations, established in the aftermath of World War II, has struggled with the same issues since its inception due to the veto power held by the Security Council’s permanent members. Furthermore, the UN has remained largely ineffectual because it lacks the enforcement power to uphold its resolutions and has insufficient means to finance its budgets. Therefore, for the UNW to fulfill its role effectively, a world constitution must be drafted, and a World General Assembly must be established. This body would allocate seats to each country according to its overall national strength and prevent any situation where the Assembly is paralyzed by the veto rights of a few powerful nations, as seen in the current UN framework.

The most ideal way to allocate seats would be to divide the world’s population by the total number of seats, say 1,000. However, this method would result in an unacceptable disparity between nations with large and small populations, with the former receiving disproportionate seats. Therefore, the World General Assembly should start with a compromise that reflects current realities and then gradually move towards a fair and ideal distribution of seats.

In the initial stages, allocating one seat per 8.1 million people would be appropriate only after the world is fully integrated. For now, however, the seat allocation must reflect each country’s overall national strength, given that the world today operates within the context of nation-states. Thus, the World General Assembly should initially allocate one seat to each of the 158 countries with a population of more than one million and distribute the remaining 842 seats based on GDP and trade at a ratio of 5:5.

To prevent an over-concentration of power among large economies and populous nations, it is essential to set an upper limit on the number of seats one country can allocate. This limit should be set at the lowest number currently held by any permanent member of the Security Council. By doing so, it would be possible to balance the representation of GDP and trade to levels comparable to Russia, thereby achieving equilibrium between large and small countries while temporarily recognizing the vested interests of the Security Council’s permanent members. In this way, all issues can be resolved by a majority vote, thus avoiding paralysis. The number of seats should be reviewed every five years using updated statistical data, and a new World Statistics Office should be established to prevent the manipulation of statistics.

The most practical solution to avoid war is transforming the nominal UN into a genuinely functioning UNW. Although no governing system is without flaws, a presidential system could effectively root the UNW in its early stages, providing stability and continuity even during political turbulence.

For political stability, the president’s term must be guaranteed, even if public opinion shifts unfavorably during his or her tenure. To strengthen the liberal democratic system, it would be necessary to set the term of the UNW’s General Assembly members at two years, with the president elected by them serving a single four-year term.

An institutional safeguard should be established to ensure the UNW’s constitution is not interrupted. If a president must be replaced, the vice president should serve the remainder of the term.

Historically, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency in the United States—a 25% probability. When George Washington became the first U.S. president, state governors held more power than the president, leading to significant conflicts and, ultimately, the American Civil War. A strong federal government emerged after the Civil War, with the U.S. Supreme Court consistently ruling in favor of federal authority in disputes between state and federal governments.

Suppose the Supreme Court had not bolstered the weak federal government with its firm decisions in those early years. In that case, the nation might have fragmented like South America, and state-level dictatorship could have been rampant. Fortunately, the U.S. liberal democratic system was safeguarded by the Supreme Court’s stability, aided by the lifetime tenure of its justices.

Therefore, the UNW’s Judicial Branch should follow a similar model, electing one of nine justices—each serving an 18-year term—every two years, ensuring no particular force can dominate it in the short term. In addition to the typical separation of powers between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches, the Tribunal Branch should be established to disperse and check power, guaranteeing individual freedoms and protecting human rights.

The shorter terms of office for the Legislative (two years) and Executive (four years) branches are designed to promote responsiveness and accountability. At the same time, the Tribunal Branch—a committee of seven members—should have 14-year terms, with one member elected every two years. This would allow the Tribunal Branch to maintain oversight and balance over the Legislative and Executive branches.

The Tribunal Branch would have oversight over six key areas. First, the prosecution must be independent from the Executive and Legislative branches to properly monitor corruption. In many constitutional states, prosecutors are meant to stand apart within the Executive Branch to maintain independence. Still, this separation is not always implemented in practice, leading to human rights abuses. To protect human rights, the prosecution must be independent in line with the principles of the world constitution.

Second, fair elections are the bedrock of democracy, and a World Election Commission should oversee each country’s elections to prevent them from descending into dictatorships. Holding elections every two years is crucial to preserving liberal democracy, as shown by the United States, which has maintained its democratic system for over 230 years by regularly holding elections. The collapse of democratic systems in Rome and Athens due to sophist dictatorships is a cautionary tale. In our complex modern society, elections must be held at least every two years to prevent those in power from manipulating public opinion and entrenching themselves in long-term power.

Third, transparent and fair opinion polls are essential. However, in the digital age, opinion polls can be easily manipulated. Some governments use them as tools to distort policy-making under the guise of direct democracy, designing questions that lead to desired responses. To combat this, the UNW should oversee opinion polls to ensure they reflect the people’s valid will.

Fourth, freedom of speech is the cornerstone of democracy, yet governments can quickly suppress the press by controlling broadcast licenses and manipulating tax audits. With the rise of Internet media and platforms like YouTube, new challenges have emerged, as media companies now rely heavily on advertising revenue, making them vulnerable to governmental or corporate pressure. To safeguard freedom of speech, the Tribunal Branch should establish a ‘Press and Communications Committee’ composed of five members serving 10-year terms, with one member elected every two years. This committee would ensure media independence and establish a secure, independent digital infrastructure to prevent censorship and misinformation.

Fifth, the World Statistics Office must accurately measure and report each nation’s overall strength, as seat allocation in the UNW would be based on GDP and trade. Governments may be tempted to manipulate statistics to inflate their standing, so a transparent and rigorous statistical system is crucial.

Sixth, proper financial oversight is necessary to ensure that the legislature and administration budgets are audited and executed fairly. A fully independent Board of Audit and Inspection should be empowered to oversee budgetary processes transparently and to correct any discrepancies immediately.

These six bureaus must operate independently from the Executive and Legislative branches to ensure that the liberal democratic system is protected through rigorous checks and balances. They must belong to the Tribunal Branch to maintain their autonomy and effectiveness, and the four branches of the world government must be thoroughly separated to uphold transparency and accountability.

Ultimately, checks and balances are central to protecting the liberal democratic system. By adding the Tribunal Branch to the traditional separation of powers, the UNW can address the unique challenges of global governance. While liberal democracy is not yet a universal reality, even in countries where it exists, there are still many problems. The current system must be reformed to protect human rights and individual freedoms better worldwide.

Of course, not all nations can adopt these institutional reforms immediately. Given the varying degrees of national sentiment, development, and democratic governance, it would be prudent to begin with more receptive countries, such as those in the European Union, and gradually expand the model. During this process, making the Tribunal Branch independent and the Executive Branch focused solely on general administration would be beneficial. Such a structure would enhance the transparency, fairness, and efficiency of the global democratic system, allowing people to exercise their sovereignty through well-functioning checks and balances among the branches of government.