Global governance: putting an end to the egosystem

Collective text produced by authors and intellectuals at a meeting held in Rabat on 7 and 8 December 2023, on the occasion of an international symposium organised by the Moroccan National Council for Human Rights, celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

We call egosystem the frenzy that drives individuals or cultural communities to regard themselves as rulers of common sense, believing they are invested with a mission of universal policing or definitive self-righteousness.

One of the manifestations of this egosystem is expressed today by those who say that today’s major threat is the invasion of so-called foreigners in Europe. On the contrary, we believe that the real threat lies in the West’s claim to rule the world. On a smaller scale, Julien Benda called it “the treason of the intellectuals”. On an international scale, the legitimacy of this type of government should be based on the prospect of progress for all, and not on the faulty idea of a cultural and geographical era dominated by “whiteness”. This individualistic approach, which is universalist in appearance only, is coming to an end before our very eyes.

The ruin of thought

The consequence of this has been the ruin of surpassing oneself, the liquidation of all ontological aspiration, and the debasement of all pure transcendence. Transcendence has been reduced to a system of utilitarianism, as defined by philosopher Raphaël Liogier in his latest book, Khaos: La promesse trahie de la modernité. Bargaining for everything meant betraying modernity, including everything sacred. It would have been wiser to claim the sublime for its own sake, i.e. without artifice or machinations and whose sole purpose is to seduce in order to better indoctrinate.

Similarly, proposing a modern political thought that proclaims the equality of actors and opportunities, the universality of rights and political alternation, has failed. It has failed to emerge and therefore to regulate international disputes, whether through agile thinking or through the manifestation of justice.

Globalisation was supposed to be about improving connections within what Marshall McLuhan called “the global village”. Unfortunately, the “sheriffication” of this village and the arrogance of its leaders has led them to believe that they were indestructible.

The ability to destroy others with nuclear bombs has turned into the capacity for self-destruction, Military strategists have cleverly renamed this the “balance of terror”. In such an environment, what happened to the prospect of universalising human rights and pacifying international relations?

This is the question we examined at the conference held in Rabat from 7 to 8 December, under the aegis of the Moroccan National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), which marked the 75^th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December 1948 by the United Nations’ General Assembly.

As Amina Bouayach, Chairperson of the CNDH, pointed out during this international conference, “the CNDH chose to frame the commemoration within an analytical approach that identifies traditional and emerging challenges, and integrates into our overall reflection the contributions of intellectuals and authors in relation to the universal humanist ideal”. The speakers debated the following question: “Is the universal humanist ideal incomplete?”

The universal humanist ideal has been severely damaged, despite the efforts of men and women who “started from nothing”, in the words of René Cassin, who drafted the Charter of Human Rights with Boris Mirkine-Guetzévitch, René Capitant, Maurice Hauriou and Eleanor Roosevelt with contributions from forgotten female figures such as Angela Jurdak Khoury (Lebanon), Fryderyka Kalinowski (Poland), Bodil Begtrup (Denmark), Minerva Bernardino (Dominican Republic) and Hansa Mehta (India).

Governmental hypocrisy and contortions

While the existence of the UN human rights mechanism is meritorious, we deplore the hypocrisy of governments, whose virtuous proclamations and signatures have often not been followed by concrete achievements. Adopted in the aftermath of the second major massacre of the 20^th century, the Declaration of Human Rights has been powerless when it comes to stopping wars from wreaking havoc here and there.

Atiq Rahimi summed up the international community’ inability, which borders on failure, to ensure world peace by quoting an African proverb: “If you don’t know where you’re going, go back to where you came from”. Diagnosing the failures of UN multilateralism, he pointed out that the problem was not in the drafting of fine texts and resolutions, but in the fact that such a promising legal architecture was not followed by action.

How can the signatories be forced to respect their commitments? Since 1948, new players have appeared on the international scene. However, neither multilateralism nor world government have been strengthened as a result. Over and above the inadequate representativeness and collegiality of the UN mechanisms, it seems to us that the radical failure to fulfil our universal dream lies in collective powerlessness.

Five soloists with veto power

Mobilisation in favour of universal laws has been a long and tiresome planetary preoccupation. This mobilisation has not prevented the world from plunging into an egocentric abyss and the exterminating delirium of the Third Reich.

Nevertheless, a few people moved by the idea of reconciliation worked tirelessly to rebuild a liveable world. At the same time as national reconstruction was taking place, thought had to be given to an international democracy capable, as author Franck Bouysse would say, of reviving “the peoples’ person”. This person, diminished by repeated conflicts, dragged himself to the UN forum, where, in 1948, Africa was represented by a mere four states (South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia and Liberia).

At the time, the then still colonised African continent had no representative in the Security Council. Today, this is no longer acceptable. Instead of United Nations’ concert, we witness music made by five vetoright-holding soloists. This permanent privilege of the few is stifling the overwhelming majority of peoples. It weakens our diplomatic ecosystem and limits the resolution of problems in the Middle East and that of post-colonial and neo-colonial nuisances on the African continent itself. If ego-centrism remains despicable, as Blaise Pascal put it, it is because it bears the seeds of egoistic bankruptcy.

We call « egoistic bankruptcy » the blindness that encourages the perpetuation of war in the Middle East, where Palestinian victims are added to Israeli victims. Here, too, the humanist ideal disappears in the name of the egosystem.

In order to construct tomorrow’s world, we may need to repair History, as Souleymane Gassama, known as Elgas, has suggested. We need to rediscover the promise of surpassing ourselves in order to hear the echoes of the world. The West has done too much overthinking, and now seems more ready to “un-think”. What we need to do is translate our speeches into action. The wish to start curing the world started in Africa. This is exactly what we wanted to express here too, far from the podiums where the egocentrism is played out.

Text published in French in Jeune Afrique, December 23, 2023

Translated from French by Karen-Ferreira Mayers

First signatories:

1. Atiq Rahimi, author and film-maker (Afghanistan)
2. Eugène Ebodé, author (Cameroon)
3. Rabiaa Marhouch, author and publisher (Morocco)
4. Djaïli Amadou Amal, author (Cameroon)
5. Raphaël Liogier, philosopher (France)
6. Souleymane Gassama, known as Elgas, essayist (Senegal)
7. Franck Bouysse, author (France)
8. Michèle Rakotoson, author (Madagascar)
9. Tchif Tchiakpe, visual artist (Benin)
10. Jean-Claude Tchatchouang, economist (Cameroon)
11. Catherine Pont-Humbert, poet (France)
12. Laïla Benhalima, painter (Morocco)
13. Badiadji Horretowdo, author (Cameroon)
14. Moussa Goudiaby, journalist (Senegal)
15. Nomawele Njongo, author and editor (South Africa)
16. Mustapha Najmi, sociologist (Morocco)
17. Jean-Éric Callon, essayist and lawyer (France)
18. Pierre Fandio, academic (Cameroon)
19. Pierre Martial Abossolo, academic (Cameroon)
20. Pierre Astier, literary agent (France)
21. Aziz Boucetta, journalist (Morocco)
22. Nicole Frossard, cultural entrepreneur (Senegal)
23. Franck Dikisongele, painter (DRC)
24. Noureddine Zouaoui, lawyer (Morocco)
25. Mohammed Anzaoui, painter (Morocco)
26. Ludovic Fadaïro, painter (Benin)
27. Monia Touiss, painter (Morocco)
28. Abderrahamane Ouardane, painter (Morocco)
29. Zulu Mbaye, painter (Senegal)
30. Pierre Pascual, artist and publisher (Morocco)
31. Alceny Saïdou Barry, inspector of schools (Burkina Faso)
32. Serigne Seye, academic (Senegal)
33. Mor Faye (Murf), painter (Senegal)
34. Erick Monjour, painter (France)
35. Raoul Tie, academic (Ivory Coast)
36. Paul Dakeyo, poet (Cameroon)
37. Pap Ba, photographer and publisher (Senegal)
38. Lopito Feijo, poet, essayist and literary critic (Angola)
39. Jean-Célestin Edjangué, author and journalist (Cameroon)
40. N’fana Kaba Diakite, author and publisher (Mali)
41. Cecile Boisson, literature teacher (Cévennes)
42. Madou Kane, historian specialising in Egyptology, cultural heritage manager (Thies, Senegal)
43. Ismaila Samba Traore, author and publisher (Mali)
44. Bekale Eric Joel, diplomat (Gabon)
45. Kadidiatou Sylla, author, coordinator of 3M Consulting (Mali)
46. Michel Lobe, journalist, novelist and essayist (Cameroon)
47. Jean-Michel Nzikou, administrative executive (Congo)
48. Issiaka Konate, film director, teacher, chairperson of the Association des Réalisateurs de Cinéma et Audiovisuel du (Burkina Faso)
49. Lahcen Laanaba, author (Morocco)
50. Kaiju Harinen, researcher in Francophone literature (Finland)
51. Juvénal Ngorwanubusa, professor and author (Burundi)
52. Jean Claude Abada Medjo, university professor (Cameroon)
53. Essoulami Said, international consultant, freedom of expression and access to information (United Kingdom)
54. Darline Cothière, Doctor of Linguistics and Director of the Maison des Journalistes in Paris (Haiti)
55. Seidina Oumar Dickoo, Journalist, historian and author (Mali)
56. Serges Cyrille Kooko, poet, author and translator (Mali)
57. Ekele Jean Michell, doctoral student (Cameroon)
58. Marc Mve Bekale lecturer (France)
59. Mohamed Salifou Kaita, journalist and author (Guinea Conakry)
60. Jean-Jose Kombo, psychologist (Congo-Brazzaville)
61. Fatimata Diallo Ba, author (Senegal)
62. Amadou Elimane Kane, pan-Africanist poet (Senegal)
63. Amine Martah, lecturer (Morocco)
64. Latifa Larguet, manager (Morocco)
65. Lamine Savané, Vice-Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ségou (Mali)
66. Sissi Ngom, author, public policy analyst, computer engineer and financial mathematician (Gabon)
67. Philomé Robert, journalist and author (Haiti)
68. Aminata El Hadj Athie, French teacher (Mauritania)
69. Mamadou Kalidou Ba, university professor (Mauritania)
70. Dominique Berjaud Nouiga, author and publisher (Morocco)
71. Sokey Edorh, visual artist (Togo)
72. Thierry Essengue, author (France)
73. Karen Ferreira-Meyers, professor, translator and interpreter (Eswatini)
74. Abderrahman Tenkoul, university professor (Morocco)
75. Mbemba Adama Kebe, aquaculture technician (Senegal)
76. Mona Azzam, author (France)
77. Bachir Tamsir Niane, author, professor and literary critic (Mali)
78. Eric Topona, journalist and essayist (Tchad)
79. Madou Kane, historian specializing in Egyptology, manager of religious heritage (Senegal)
80. Fara Sambe, journalist writer, editor-in-chief of La Gazette magazine, administrator of the website www.sen-ornoir.com (Senegal)
81. Cheikh Guèye, Permanent Secretary of the Alternative Report on Africa (RASA) (Sénégal)
82. Samba Abou Arafa, Costume designer, Cultural consultant, Patron of the Mali Sanga So Museum, President of the NGO “AIDE Actions for Development Initiatives and Emancipation” (Mali)
83. Elhaddji Yaya Diebate, musician (Senegal)
84. Fatmatta B.Taqi, academic (Sierra Leone)
85. Merini Ahmed Farid, psychoanalyst and writer (Morroco)
86. Hella Feki, writer (Tunisia)
87. Hadja Maï NIANG, writer, filmmaker and academic (Senegal )
88. Abdoulaye Imorou, academic (Ghana)
89. Joel Mbelem, president of COCAM (Cameroon/Morocco)
90. Mbouombouo Issofou, architect of the palace of the bamoun kings (Cameroon)
91. Abdelhaï Sadiq, university professor (Morocco)
92. Khady Cheikhna, former minister and academic (Mauritania)
93. Khaled Youssef, poet (France)
94. Lamia Berrada, wirter (Morocco)
95. Halima Hamdane, writer and storyteller (Morocco)
96. Ndongo Mbaye, poet ans writer (France)

Link to sign the opinion page: https://www.facebook.com/RabiaaMarhouch

[1] The notion of egosystem was the central theme of Atiq Rahimi’s inaugural lecture at the Rabat conference.