Reforming international institutions to guarantee fair representation will require bold steps

In recent years, the inadequacy of the capabilities and efforts of international institutions in dealing with the crises and wars that have erupted across the world has come to the fore, it is seen that the criticisms leveled against these institutions are increasing with every passing day.

Due to the fact that many of the mentioned international institutions were established after the Second World War, they have become institutions dominated by a few countries in the U.S. and Europe.

While there were criticisms against the IMF in the 2008 global economic crisis, there were criticisms levied against the world health organization for Covid-19, against the UN in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and many previous wars, as well as against the World Trade Organization (WTO) and numerous other institutions due to the distortions in world trade. There have been criticisms. Today, criticism of these institutions continues to increase.

Many countries, especially Türkiye, are on the receiving end of criticism because the existing institutions are weak in terms of representation and cannot meet the emerging needs and demands.

These criticisms necessitate the reformation of international institutions, taking into account the new criteria.

International institutions must meet many criteria in order to represent the world fairly.

International institutions must take into account the size of the country's economies, namely GDP. Because the size of the countries in the world economy has changed a lot compared to the 2nd World War. Since then, many countries' GDP, trade, and their share in the world economy have changed significantly.

When the first 20 countries in the world economy are examined, it will be seen that these countries are on different continents and regions of the world. Therefore, the size of the country's economy, namely GDP, should be an important criterion for representation.

It is clear that the G20 is more reasonable in terms of representation than existing institutions, organizations, and initiatives. Although the G20 is not an executive organization, it can be said that it is a good example in this field.

However, the representation of the continents and regions should be taken into account in order to strengthen the representation in international institutions. It is important for many developing countries in Asia and Africa to take their place in international institutions both economically and due to their high population structure.

Meanwhile, the religion of the countries is important in terms of representation. Representing a Muslim country or countries that do not have representation, especially for the countries that will serve in structures such as the UN Security Council, will be a serious step for world peace.

Most importantly, international institutions' representation criteria should be clear and transparent. It is clear that the transparent nature of these criteria will both facilitate the functioning of institutions, and it will be easier for institutions to find support and solve problems in the international arena in solving the problems they face.

When the representation in international institutions is fair, it will be easier to solve crises and conflicts across the world.

In addition, the sharing of this responsibility by the countries that have weight in international institutions together with new countries will make a significant contribution to increasing the capacity of these institutions.