Friday, March 25, 2005

Right-wing concerted efforts to discredit UN

Today WSJ front page article reports that Kofi Anna to be criticized by the independent investigative panel headed by Paul Volcker.

There have been concerted efforts by the right-wing in America to discredit UN. But give UN some break. What authority does UN have? What authority does Kofi Anna have? It is just like what John Bolton, the would-be US representative to UN, said (not exact words) : UN needs to do what US asks it to do.
UN, from the very beginning, is a pawn, an instrument, for the world super powers. UN in itself could not and will not be able to do anything if the super powers do not support it. UN is just a rubber stamp, a tigher without teeth.

The current animosity of some people in the US towards UN, is not a UN problem, but rather a problem between the US and the so-called old Europe. It is the problem of clashing super powers. In the cold war era, Europe and US are allied together to fight Soviet. Now Soviet is gone, the inherent conflict between Europe and US, which has always been there, has now surfaced.

No super power should view UN as an instrument of convenience. If UN follows the super power, it seems to be OK. If UN does not go along, that seems to be a problem. I see the world starting to be more polarized (just like within the US), as EU wants to assert more independent power in international affairs. The conflict between the US and Europe will intensify. Rising influence of emerging China does not help the situation.

US has to realize that the world has changed. It is no long the lone super power any more. It needs to negotiate and compromise with other nations. It is just like America's domestic politics.
In the end, I should say that Kofi Anna has more integrity than many politicians around the world combined.

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