New York, New York, December 10, 2004

The Center for UN Reform Education and the Center for War/Peace Studies are jointly hosting a luncheon conference for all 191 UN missions and their ambassadors advocating weighted voting in the General Assembly and the Security Council.

Journalist and citizen diplomat Richard Hudson and others have been promoting for forty years making General Assembly voting proportionate to power. Yet the major nations have shown little stomach for thereby making its resolutions binding, allowing it to become more than a debating society.

In contrast, the Security Council already has real power, but its directives are imbalanced and selectively enforced, principally because its makeup is grossly unfair to most of the world's states. Even the Big Five are willing to enlarge it, but the recent unseemly scramble of Germany, India, Nigeria, and Brazil, each volunteering to become a new permanent member, has given everyone pause.

The luncheon is showcasing a proposal to adopt qualified majorities in the Security Council, based on eighteen voting units representing all the world. This conceptual breakthrough opens a viable way forward toward a universally acceptable augmentation formula.

A PR firm would promote the historic significance of this plan, which Professor Joseph Schwartzberg explains in his monograph, Revitalizing the United Nations. His sponsors should consider creating a two-sided color brochure incorporating its basic ideas. Reprinting a selection of Dr. Schwartzberg's text plus charts on reconstituting the Security Council would also be a good idea.

One way to set up the venue for the occasion is to reproduce a rough map of the world with eighteen tables. Seat all 191 member states in regional groups of nations, according to Joe's proposed eighteen voting units. Volunteers informed regarding each area's general geopolitical positions can fill in some of the seats at the displayed place names that remain untaken by delegates from those countries. Three camcorders directed on headsets would cover a stage situated at the head of the room.

At the luncheon, Professor Schwartzberg himself makes a short PowerPoint presentation, projecting the brochure, charts and tables, plus his proposed Charter reform text. Joe and a moderator then converse with two or three pre-selected ambassadors favorable to Dr. Schwartzberg's ideas.

Unlike in panels, giving short disconnected speeches to the audience, the featured speakers talk among themselves in response to leading questions from the host. A widescreen projector shows close up their conversation, which covers specific issues one at a time. After the group on stage finishes with each theme, their proceedings stop. The attending diplomats then share their responses with their tablemates.

Breakdown of the five topics:

Feasibility
Actionable strategies toward manifestation
Alternatives to enactment, including maintaining the status quo
Answering objections and acting as if in the meantime
Formal implementation process

A sample of reports back from spokespersons for five tables, a reaction to these by the panel, and a short wrap-up end the formal program.

Outline of presentation format and schedule:

15 minute illustrated talk
50 minute thematic conversations in five parts
50 minute interspersed interactive responses
20 minute reports back from five representative tables/voting units.
Written record from all eighteen tabulated after the fact
15 minute panel guidance after all five remarks complete
10 minute moderator wrap up

The event concludes. Participants network for half an hour. Meantime, interview taping commences. Three single camera crews bring consenting VIPs to three pre-set studio rooms or areas. Earlier, during the interactive periods between thematic discussion segments on stage, the three cameras refocus to record unamplified knowledgeable pundit responses. If any relevant pre-cut documentary video exists, add it to the source material. Edit a 90:00 program for broadcast.

These videotaped conversations are additive, not pro/con, liberal/conservative, for/against rehashes of the conventional wisdom. Most contributors build the case for how to get this transformation to actually happen, including of course their concerns and cautions. The show is willing to exhibit unashamed advocacy. We conduct a chorus instead of a shouting match, resonating polyphony rather than cacophony.

The PR firm would work for some of the main presenters' appearance on a PBS public affairs program shortly before the event. The New York Times could carry an Op-Ed by Joseph Schwartzberg. The New York Observer might do a think piece. The New Yorker "Talk of the Town" section may be interested in featuring this innovative global political idea and its unique presenting format.

To encourage electronic media coverage of the happening, stage a news conference before the luncheon, featuring the panel participants and celebrity backers. After much free and paid publicity, air an edited program shortly thereafter on a Sunday at 7:00 PM on Channel 13 WNET, PBS Long Island Channel 21, or CUNY Cable Channel 75.

Place radio spots promoting the broadcast on NPR and Pacifica, plus provocative print advertisements in the New York Times TV section, Village Voice/New York Press free weeklies, and the metropolitan New York TV Guide. These ads will put the concept of this novel way to reconstitute the Security Council into the mindspace of the New York intelligentsia. No matter how few watch the actual TV screening, the political credibility of the idea will increase.

This event can be an early leading edge of the overall Campaign to Empower the United Nations. Transforming the Security Council is one of twenty top empowerments to make the UN work for the world. Full project budget: $20,000 for PR, Ads, and Video Production plus Editing, not including luncheon costs. Edited video alone with event staging, minus promotion, ads, and TV: $7000.