联合国改革的新契约
联合国正被内部紧张关系撕裂。成立人权理事会的争议刚刚得到令人满意的解决，一场新的战斗就已爆发。美国正在推动行政改革，并威胁说，如果改革不能实现，将切断资金支持。
The United Nations is torn apart by internal tensions. No sooner was the controversy over the creation of a Human Rights Council satisfactorily resolved than a new battle has erupted. The United States is pressing for administrative reforms and threatening to cut off funding if the reforms are not forthcoming.
联合国秘书长提交了一份合理的改革方案，但占多数的联合国成员国——即所谓的“77 国集团”——正在抵制，因为他们认为这是削弱联大相对于安理会权威的又一步骤。他们特别反对该方案中关于赋予秘书长更多权力与责任的提议，因为秘书长的遴选实际上掌握在拥有否决权的安理会五个常任理事国手中。
The Secretary General has submitted a reasonable reform plan, but a majority of UN member states, acting together as the so-called G-77, are balking, because they regard it as another step in reducing the authority of the General Assembly relative to the Security Council. In particular, they object to the plan’s proposal to give increased powers and responsibilities to the Secretary General, whose selection is effectively in the hands of the Security Council’s five permanent members, which wield veto power.
许多联合国成员国认为，联合国内的权力已经逐渐从大会手中转移出去，因此它们不愿放弃它们眼中大会最后的一丝权力：通过大会第五委员会的工作来掌控预算。实际上，第五委员会在人事和开支上实施了过于琐碎的管理——如果联合国要有效运转、拥有一支能够应对组织面临挑战的员工队伍，这些管理工作本该由秘书长负责。这正是美国坚持行政改革的依据。
Many UN members, believing that power within the UN has been shifting from the General Assembly, resist giving up what they regard as its last vestige: control over the budget through the work of the Assembly’s Fifth Committee. In practice, the Fifth Committee has exercised the kind of micro-management over personnel and expenditure that ought to be exercised by the Secretary General if the UN is to operate effectively and to have a staff which is up to the challenges facing the organization. This is the basis of America’s insistence on administrative reforms.
迫切需要找到走出这一僵局的办法。当前提案若告失败，实际上就意味着所有联合国改革努力的终结，对全世界依赖联合国开发计划署提供援助、联合国众多维和行动提供安全保障、或联合国各机构所提供的无数其他服务的人们而言，后果将是灾难性的。例如，管理改革的失败将助长美国国会扣留美国对联合国预算缴款的要求——这项政策将严重损害美国自身的利益，比如计划中的扩大达尔富尔维和任务以阻止种族灭绝的行动。
There is an urgent need to find a way out of this impasse. Failure of the current proposal would mean an effective end to all efforts to reform the UN, with disastrous consequences for people across the world who depend on the aid provided by the UN Development Program, the security provided by the UN’s numerous peacekeeping operations, or the myriad other services rendered by UN agencies. For example, failure of management reform would fuel demands by the U.S. Congress to withhold America’s contributions to the UN budget—a policy that would greatly undermine America’s own interests, such as the planned expansion of the mission to stop genocide in Darfur.
实现令人满意的解决方案，路径很明确：在秘书长遴选过程中赋予联合国大会更大的作用，使各成员国能够将权力授予自己选择的权威机构。这一方案不仅能让亟需的行政改革得以实施，还能为亟需改进的遴选过程带来清晰度和透明度。
The path to a satisfactory resolution is clear: give the General Assembly a greater role in the selection of the Secretary General so that members would be delegating powers to an authority of their own choosing. This solution would not only permit the much-needed administrative reforms to be implemented; it would also bring clarity and transparency to a process that is in great need of improvement.
毕竟，《联合国宪章》规定“秘书长应由大会经安全理事会推荐任命”。最初的设想是这两个机构能就候选人达成共识。但在实践中，如今是五个常任理事国先商定候选人，然后由安理会首先审议通过，再提交大会橡皮图章式批准。当前，关于新任秘书长的真正讨论正在五常之间秘密进行，这让包括那些一直试图扩大安理会却未能如愿的大国在内的其他联合国成员国倍感沮丧。
After all, the UN Charter provides that “the Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.” The original concept was that the two bodies would reach a consensus on a candidate. In practice, however, the five permanent members now agree on a candidate, and their decision is rubber-stamped first by the Security Council and then by the General Assembly. Real discussions about a new Secretary General are currently being conducted in secrecy among the permanent five, adding to the frustration of other UN members, including large powers that have been seeking without success to enlarge the Security Council.
为了推行它想要的预算程序改革，美国需要带头说服安理会其他常任理事国，让联合国大会在该程序中发挥更大作用。实现这一目标有多种方式。安理会可以同意推荐几位候选人，由联合国大会从中选出一位。或者，联合国大会可以向安理会提出几位候选人，由安理会从中挑选一位，再送回联大批准。
To achieve the reforms of the budget process that it wants, the U.S. will need to lead the way in persuading the other permanent members of the Council to give the General Assembly a greater role in the process. This might be done in several ways. The Security Council might agree to recommend several candidates from which the General Assembly would select one. Alternatively, the General Assembly might propose several candidates to the Security Council, from which the Council would choose one to refer back to the Assembly for approval.
无论哪种方式，选拔过程都会因提高透明度而受益。例如，联合国大会应举办公开听证会，对候选人进行面试，这将极大提升最终当选者的声望。这些提议若被采纳，将有助于以令各方满意的方式化解当前的争议。事实上，它们能让联合国变得比以往任何时候都更强大。
Either way, the selection process would benefit from greater transparency. For example, the General Assembly should hold public hearings in which candidates are interviewed, thereby greatly enhancing the stature of the candidate who is eventually selected. Such proposals, if accepted, would help resolve the current dispute to everyone’s satisfaction. Indeed, they could make the UN stronger than it has ever been.