CITIZEN ALERT v1.60
THE UNITED NATIONS
So, getting back to the e-mails and comments I’ve gotten over the UN in the past couple days. The general gist of the e-mails were that the UN was an institution that has become ineffective, corrupt, and unnecessary. Well, my answer to this is that the UN, while flawed, is completely necessary.
Shashi Tharoor the current United Nations Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and one of the guys on the short list to succeed Annan explained as much as the UN has its screw ups, a lot of good has come of it, “Over the years, more than 170 UN-assisted peace settlements have ended regional conflicts. And in the past 15 years, more civil wars have ended through mediation than in the previous two centuries combined.” That’s not a bad track record.
One of the problems that people see with the UN is its current Secretary General, Kofi Annan who much to his critics delight will be stepping down this year after 10 years. Again, one of the men on the short list to replace him is Shashi Tharoor along with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon who actually leads Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor has been working with the UN since he was 22, and is of Indian origin. He’s the author of several books both fiction and non-fiction which I plan on picking up this week, and, dang it, he has his own website - half devoted to his literary work and half to campaigning for the Sec. General gig. Come on! That’s funny!
Having read over some of his articles, questionnaires, and a recent interview in World Policy Journal, I find myself to be in agreement, at least so far, with his goals for the UN, and those are that the UN continues to be an important and necessary institution but one that would benefit from changes being made.
The planet is globalizing right before this generation’s eyes and we must have an organization in place to mediate objectively, and push the envelope of non-violence. The world and the UN changed drastically in the early 90s with the collapse of the Soviet Union leaving the U.S. as the sole super power and by default pitted against the United Nations. In effect, the UN has become the conscious of the Western World and must remain so until it is strengthened into an institution with real powers not just strings to pull.
With the e-mails, and debates I’ve had with friends over the admitted failures by the UN, and there have been terrible mistakes, you must remember that it is, as its name implies, “nations united” - participation is optional.
The UN does not maintain its own army; it is financed by its member states that do not always pay their dues. The United States is currently $1.2 billion behind, I believe, in our dues. Some of which were withheld to twist the UN’s arms from time to time, and also keep in mind that all peacekeeping missions must be approved by the UN Security Council which the U.S. sits on.
According to Tharoor, the 3 essentials for a peacekeeping mission are the orders, the financing and the political will. Well, we’ve already discussed the financing, so let’s look at will. The will of the UN members has always been in service of their own individual interests and that does not bring peace it brings spoils. If anything is to improve the impartiality of this peacekeeping body, the UNSC must be put in check.
The same people in this country that complain that the United States has become the police of the world are the same people I hear complain that we should leave the UN. Well, which is it? If you don’t feel like policing the world, then someone else has to and as soon as you turn the law over to that body then you no longer are above that law and must adhere to its decisions democratically.
The UN can work because it has no country, it has no land, no ulterior agenda, no home except loyalty to an ideal – and all this is in theory. But we must resign ourselves to the fact that while it works in theory it is easily corrupted and manipulated by the governments that hold the permanent seats and those permanent strings they so readily pull. And if we so resign ourselves to this fact then it must follow that we resolve to cut those said strings and free our best hope at uniting a peaceful world.
Shashi Tharoor the current United Nations Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and one of the guys on the short list to succeed Annan explained as much as the UN has its screw ups, a lot of good has come of it, “Over the years, more than 170 UN-assisted peace settlements have ended regional conflicts. And in the past 15 years, more civil wars have ended through mediation than in the previous two centuries combined.” That’s not a bad track record.
One of the problems that people see with the UN is its current Secretary General, Kofi Annan who much to his critics delight will be stepping down this year after 10 years. Again, one of the men on the short list to replace him is Shashi Tharoor along with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon who actually leads Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor has been working with the UN since he was 22, and is of Indian origin. He’s the author of several books both fiction and non-fiction which I plan on picking up this week, and, dang it, he has his own website - half devoted to his literary work and half to campaigning for the Sec. General gig. Come on! That’s funny!
Having read over some of his articles, questionnaires, and a recent interview in World Policy Journal, I find myself to be in agreement, at least so far, with his goals for the UN, and those are that the UN continues to be an important and necessary institution but one that would benefit from changes being made.
The planet is globalizing right before this generation’s eyes and we must have an organization in place to mediate objectively, and push the envelope of non-violence. The world and the UN changed drastically in the early 90s with the collapse of the Soviet Union leaving the U.S. as the sole super power and by default pitted against the United Nations. In effect, the UN has become the conscious of the Western World and must remain so until it is strengthened into an institution with real powers not just strings to pull.
With the e-mails, and debates I’ve had with friends over the admitted failures by the UN, and there have been terrible mistakes, you must remember that it is, as its name implies, “nations united” - participation is optional.
The UN does not maintain its own army; it is financed by its member states that do not always pay their dues. The United States is currently $1.2 billion behind, I believe, in our dues. Some of which were withheld to twist the UN’s arms from time to time, and also keep in mind that all peacekeeping missions must be approved by the UN Security Council which the U.S. sits on.
According to Tharoor, the 3 essentials for a peacekeeping mission are the orders, the financing and the political will. Well, we’ve already discussed the financing, so let’s look at will. The will of the UN members has always been in service of their own individual interests and that does not bring peace it brings spoils. If anything is to improve the impartiality of this peacekeeping body, the UNSC must be put in check.
The same people in this country that complain that the United States has become the police of the world are the same people I hear complain that we should leave the UN. Well, which is it? If you don’t feel like policing the world, then someone else has to and as soon as you turn the law over to that body then you no longer are above that law and must adhere to its decisions democratically.
The UN can work because it has no country, it has no land, no ulterior agenda, no home except loyalty to an ideal – and all this is in theory. But we must resign ourselves to the fact that while it works in theory it is easily corrupted and manipulated by the governments that hold the permanent seats and those permanent strings they so readily pull. And if we so resign ourselves to this fact then it must follow that we resolve to cut those said strings and free our best hope at uniting a peaceful world.
posted by Bobot Adrenaline at 1:23 AM
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