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October 11, 2001

U.N.'s initial unanimous response to terroristic acts could dissolve in debate over general convention against terrorism

One measure of the fear and outrage that Sept. 11's terrorist attacks engendered among world leaders was the United Nations' quick, unanimous response.

The U.N. Security Council on Sept. 28 adopted a U.S.-sponsored resolution obliging all 189 member states to crack down on financing, training and movement of terrorists, and to cooperate in any campaign — including a military one — against them. The often-fractious General Assembly gave the United States the green light for this week's air strikes against Afghanistan.

But as for extending the war on terrorism to other countries, or to enemies beyond Afghanistan's Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network — "the Security Council would have to take that up again," said Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, Mongolia's ambassador to the U.N., in an Oct. 4 lecture here.

All U.N. members (even Iraq) officially condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, but the upcoming debate on a general U.N. convention against terrorism may be less harmonious, Enkhsaikhan predicted.

"When we come to negotiating the convention's text, what will be the positions of individual states? I'm sure that will be very revealing," he said.

U.N. members have disagreed sharply on defining "terrorism." Some Arab states have sought to designate Israel a "terrorist state," just as a 1975 General Assembly resolution (since rescinded) equated Zionism with racism.

Enkhsaikhan criticized such divisiveness. "If you want somebody's cooperation, you don't point fingers," he said.

The U.N. has adopted a dozen conventions against terrorism, beginning with one in 1963 that required nations to arrest and punish aircraft hijackers; 171 nations have signed this convention.

Subsequent U.N. conventions have called on governments to prosecute or extradite hijackers, hostage-takers and assassins of diplomats. Still others have sought to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear material, and have required marking of plastic explosives so investigators can determine where and when those explosives were produced.

Enkhsaikhan said he hoped last month's terrorist attacks will speed approval of the wording of new conventions, including one against nuclear terrorism and another that would establish an international court to prosecute individuals for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

The United States has expressed grave concerns about both of those proposed conventions, wary of surrendering judicial sovereignty and of other nations labeling U.S. military policies and actions as war crimes and nuclear terrorism.

"You can't force states to sign on to these conventions," Enkhsaikhan noted, diplomatically. But later, in response to an audience member's question about how the U.N. could play a more positive role, Enkhsaikhan replied: "One of the ways would be to amend the [U.N.] charter to give more teeth, more force to the United Nations, to the collective will" of its members.

He suggested it might be wise to add a sixth permanent member to the U.N. Security Council, to represent Africa. But Enkhsaikhan acknowledged that if that addition were made, other continents, countries and factions (including the non-aligned nations and economic powers Japan and Germany) probably would press for permanent membership on the Security Council, too.

"I think five countries having veto powers is too many anyhow," Enkhsaikhan said. "We wouldn't want any others also to have a veto."

Mongolia's official position, he said, is that the U.N. charter specifies permanent seats on the Security Council for the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. "When Mongolia joined the United Nations, we signed the charter, agreeing that those would be the rules of the game," he said.

q On Oct. 3, Ambassador Enkhsaikhan spoke about Mongolia in the context of globalization.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia began re-assessing its political and economic policies, he said. "Politically, since 1990, we have gone far. We've had six elections. Although we have 24 parties, three or four emerge by election time, and no one has challenged the election results."

On the other hand, the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-driven one "has been very painful," Enkhsaikhan said. "There have been reforms. We've brought inflation down to 7 or 8 percent. And there have been structural reforms, privatization where the focus is on business and results," rather than writing reports to pacify Soviet bureaucracy. "Yet, much depends on who becomes the owner of industry. Sometimes mismanagement makes things worse."

Mongolia also suffers from recent severe climatic changes, caused by Soviet-enforced deforestation, global warming and other factors, which make for colder winters and drier summers — a brutal combination because raising livestock is the backbone of the economy.

The land-locked country of 2.4 million people — about the size of the Bronx, Enkhsaikhan said — is caught between Russia and China, giants who hold all the economic cards. "Transportation costs are high. That's why we're negotiating with China for access to the sea. Mongolia, therefore, truly wants China in the World Trade Organization," to make it conform to world standards of trade access.

"We're trying our best, but there are limits of what we can do on our own. That's where globalization comes in, with the interdependence of countries. We believe globalization is a real process that's here to stay. But so far, globalization in Mongolia has benefited only the strong, the rich, the resourceful. More international cooperation could help overcome that."

The No. 1 priority in Mongolia is economic development, Enkhsaikhan said. The country is seeking more direct business investment and increased tourism. For the former, Mongolia needs a more equal playing field, where trade is mutually beneficial and companies who build there invest locally. To increase tourism, the isolated country seeks to become an additional stop-over for travelers to China and other Asian countries. "But we need to develop our infrastructure to be a more desirable tourist attraction. We want to attract not just people who want adventure and the beauty of our country, who want instead amenities like warm water and good food."

The ambassador's events were sponsored by the University Honors College, the Asian studies program, the Center for Russian and East European Studies, the European Union Center and the global studies program.

— Bruce Steele and Peter Hart

Filed under: Feature,Volume 34 Issue 4

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