The Covenant of Democratic Nations

Replacing the United Nations:
An Idea Whose Time Has Not Yet Come

Our original premise was conceived by New York Times bestselling and award-winning human rights author Edwin Black in January 2017.

The effort was ignited by the passage on December 23, 2016 of the virulently anti-Israel United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which many saw as a vengeful rebuke by then-President Barack Obama against the Jewish State. Supporters of Israel of all faiths and in many countries were outraged. Author Black coalesced the resentment into a positive force. As a historian, he knew that the League of Nations had outlived its usefulness during the Hitler regime. After the War, the League was replaced by the United Nations. But, said Black, after years of agitation against Israel—the only democracy in the Middle East, it was clear that the United Nations has outlived its usefulness and must be replaced with a new international body, one comprised solely of those nations governed by democratic principles, devoted to genuine democracy, equality, and peaceful relations throughout the world.

Advocates asked the United States to defund and withdraw from the United Nations and to reconstitute the movement to achieve world peace for all in a new world body: The Covenant of Democratic Nations. The Covenant of Democratic Nations was intended to review, re-ratify, amend, or nullify all acts and resolutions of the United Nations and its agencies, creating a new body of long-overdue, reformed, and updated international law.

In January 2017, Black set out upon a global tour of Congressional and Parliamentary appearances, lectures, rallies, and strategic meetings. The tour began in the House of Representatives in Washington DC, and from there, continued to New York, Palm Beach, San Francisco, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, Detroit, and other cities as well as remote conferences with leaders in London, Brussels, and Jerusalem. The response was universally and overwhelmingly positive. Covenant chapters began to self-organize in several countries, volunteers began to sign up, and more conferences were requested worldwide. The response was so overwhelming, it would have taken the resources of a government to fund it and execute it across international lines. This was beyond the resources of author Black and his supporters. By the end of 2017, the world saw certain reforms adopted by the United Nations. Black stood down and ended the project for the time being. Its own success had made it impossible to continue. All that remains now of the effort is this legacy page and the vision that perhaps one day an international body will emerge that is comprised of and devoted to democratic principles as a shining light that will attract emerging democratic nations as well as nations still waiting to begin the process of democracy. Until then, the effort to create a Covenant of Democratic Nations will be seen as footnote in the struggle for world peace.