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The term "'international community'" is a political phrase that can refer to either:

★ All the lands represented within the United Nations.

★ The people of the lands all over the world.

★ Shared values and principles among the primary actors within an international system.
The international community is regulated by the international law created by the international treaties.

Contents

History

Usage of the expression

Notes

See also

History

Usage of the term began in the 1960s.
In the 1950s, political cartoons used a picture of a man, often wearing a hat, whose head was a globe. This figure was labelled "''The World''".

Usage of the expression

It has been claimed that the superpower nations (now mainly the United States, although China and Russia are both capable of intercontinental force projection) use the term to describe organizations in which they play a predominant role, regardless of the opinion of other nations. For example, the Kosovo War was described as an action of the "international community" even though it was undertaken by NATO, which represented under ten percent of the world's population during the Kosovo War, this including Italy and Greece who were in opposition to the involvements.
States thus often refer to 'the will of the international community' to strengthen their own point of view, while in reality they are referring to the will of a small group of states or even only themselves. One should always keep in mind that decisions taken by the United Nations Security Council, although the body functions in accordance with the United Nations Charter, reflect the opinion of five permanent member states and ten non-permanent member states. It is therefore more accurate to speak of 'the will of the international community' when referring to decisions taken by the United Nations General Assembly.

Notes

Similarly, "international community" is being used by some Western leaders when criticizing Iran for its nuclear ambitions by saying that "Iran is defying the will of the international community by continuing uranium enrichment". The league of non-aligned nations (122 countries out of 193 recognised governments by both the USA and the UK, well over 50%) has in fact backed Iran's right to uranium enrichment. In this case, those countries do not form a part of the "international community".
Because campaigns which use the term ''International Community'' soley comprise administrations rather than the nation as a whole, opponents and critics of the organisation flying the "international" flag often refer to the key representatives in that circle as the ''Global Elite''.

See also

★ Sources of international law

★ List of community topics

★ Internationalism (politics)

★ World community