Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
expressed their strong support and are working in the field to achieve the objectives and targets established at the beginning of the new millennium. This is truly exceptional for an initiative of the United Nations. A resolution of the General Assembly rarely enjoys such wide exposure or what amounts to virtually universal acceptance; clearly, the Millennium Declaration and the associated Millennium Development Goals reflect the spirit of these times and are consistent with popular sensibilities.
4.4 International justice through cooperation and partnership The conception of international justice embodied in the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals is in tune with the dominant political culture of the modern era. Countries are cognizant of the need to engage in a global partnership for development. True partnership derives from mature, pragmatic and effective interaction. Partners are not necessarily equal but must respect each other and draw comparable benefits from their relationship. Trade constitutes the basis of this relationship and is theoretically beneficial for everyone, at least in the long run. All societies participate in the exchange of goods and services, and as globalization is extended to all parts of the world, it will be trade that unites all countries and all peoples. The old functionalist idea that trade brings development and prosperity and that prosperity brings peace--one of the intellectual and political pillars of the United Nations-still has wide appeal. Countries forming partnerships in the quest for material prosperity are no longer identified as being from the "North" or the "South". The division of the world into poles, with the accompanying connotations of superiority and obligation and the established cycle of demands and concessions, is avoided in the Millennium texts; all countries meet in the global market. If the rules prevailing in this market are transparent, predictable and fair, the rich will get richer and the poor will get rich, and one of those much-heralded win-win situations will occur. It is not envisaged, in this culture of partnership for development, that the rich and powerful countries will have to sacrifice part of their wealth to help the less affluent. The words "distribution ", "redistribution", "taxation" and "transfer" are carefully avoided, and the notion of solidarity-ne of the six values listed at the beginning of the Millennium Declaration-is absent from the body of the Declaration and from the Goals. While least developed countries are to be treated with some sort of positive discrimination with regard to trade, debt and development assistance, this does not represent a moral obligation or the pursuit of global justice but rather an exchange that entails fair compensation for their dedication to poverty reduction. Under the terms of this global partnership, developed countries and international organizations, notably the W O , are to promote the development of a world economy with open, rule-based and predictable arrangements in trade and finance, ensuring an even terrain for competition. Affluent countries and international agen-