- 191 (all - 1?) countries joined in the UNO
(even Switzerland finally joined the 10 Sep. 2002)
- exceptions: Holy See (and ...?).
They thus gave up some aspects of their sovereignty:
- They gave up the right for war (military action), with two exceptions:
- self-defence
- military actions decided by the Security Council
- They accepted the obligation to carry out orders by the Security Council.
What is self-defence?
Oppenheim's International Law (Ninth Edition, 1991, pp. 412)
[quoted from Warblogging,
underlining added]:
«The development of the law, particularly in the light of more
recent state practice, in the 150 years since the Caroline incident
suggests that action, even if it involves the use of armed force and
the violation of another state's territory, can be justified as self
defence under international law where:
- an armed attack is launched, or is immediately threatened,
against a state's territory or forces (and probably its nationals);
- there is an urgent necessity for defensive action against that
attack;
- there is no practicable alternative to action in self-defense,
and in particular another state or other authority which has the
legal powers to stop or prevent the infringement does not, or cannot,
use them to that effect;
- the action taken by way of self-defense is limited to what is
necessary to stop or prevent the infringement,
i.e. to the needs of defense»
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- All - 2 countries of the world ratified the Uno Convention on Childrens' Rights (1989)
- two exceptions: Somalia + USA
[Spiegel Online 10 May 2002]
- All - 3 contries of the world adopted the metric measurement system over traditional systems
to tear down trade barriers and
to stimulate commercial and scientific competition
by easier comparison.
Despite three exceptions - Liberia + Myanmar (Burma) + USA -
this was a great success.
No comparable success was achieved in other areas:
railways, electrical current, radio frequencies, TV signals, mobile telephones, ...
1875, delegates from 17 countries sign the "meter convention"
[Zeit 11/2003]
- All - 4 countries of the world signed the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (2000)
- except for Cuba, Israel, India, and Pakistan
[FAS].
- All - 4 countries do not use executions or only under rare conditions
- except for China, Iran, USA, Vietnam.
Among large democracies, only India, Japan, South Korea, USA still practise capital punishment
[Economist Mar 2 2005]
- All - 8 countries have, since 1990, not executed citizens for crimes committed while under the age of 18
- except for China, Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA, Yemen.
UPDATE: March 1 2005, the US Supreme Court found that such executions are unconstitutional
[Economist Mar 2 2005]
- 167 countries appealed in a UN resolution to the US to lift its Cuba embargo (Sep. 2001)
- voted against it: Israel, Marshall-islands (ex-US protectorate), USA
[Spiegel Online]
- 152 countries signed the international convention against anti-personal mines
- important exceptions: China, India, Pakistan, Russia, USA
- 92 states signed the 2002 International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missles Proliferation,
incl. USA, Russia - exceptions: China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and others
[Spiegel Online 26 Nov 2002]
- 89 states have ratified the treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
as of 2002
[Economist Mar 11th 2003].
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Ulf's facts & figures: