[Peace-discuss] U.N.

[John Baldridge]

   I, for one, have long felt that the UN is badly in need of security 
reform, and the current situation could be an opportunity for a large 
bloc of developing countries (perhaps composed mainly of "nonaligned" 
nations) to force a make-or-break decision on Securiity Council 
restructuring.  But, not surprisingly, I think it would be a grave 
mistake for those same countries to effectively dissolve the UN by 
withdrawing from it altogether.  To do so would severely undermine the 
many successful operations which have grown since its inception.  Just a 
very few operations which spring to mind include UNICEF, the UN 
Commission on Human Rights, the Postal and Telecommunications Unions, 
and the World Health Organization. 

   Mind you, I will not contend that the UN is without serious 
problems.  The Security Council continues to be slanted towards the old 
colonial powers, and has a dismal record in regulating the military 
behavior of its principal members.  However, considering the UN as a 
whole, what other organization engages the governments of 191 countries 
in anything approaching a democratic forum?  The vast majority of the 
world population remains very supportive of the UN and its Charter.  
It's failures in matters of war do not invalidate its other successes, 
nor outweigh them.

   Dissolving the United Nations would set back the cause of global 
cooperation by decades, and would create even more fertile ground for 
the unfettered expansion of capitalist globalism.  It would certainly 
play right into the hands of the Bush regime, since it would be easier 
to "divide and conquer" if the developing world divided itself even 
further by picking up and leaving in the absence of a viable 
alternative.  As it is, even the current government feels pressure to at 
least attempt to justify their actions on the global stage provided by 
the United Nations.  Imagine a world where even that check was removed.

   Social movements (e.g. the WSF) must continue to organize and work 
for peace and justice.  Socially conscious governments (such that there 
are) should form alliances and promote sustainable and equitable 
economic policies which do not merely favor corporate exploitation.  So, 
too, should the UN remain as a forum for debate, action, mutual aid, and 
global cooperation, and to hold out the hope of controlling militarism.  

   It has been less than 60 years since the UN's founding, and it has 
made great strides in many areas.  It has been barely 10 years since the 
end of the Cold War, which essentially defined the structure of the 
Security Council.  This is not the time to abandon the United Nations.  
It is the time to lobby for a more representative Security Council which 
recognizes and respects the needs of more than five member states.  It 
is the time to reaffirm the social, economic, and environmental promise 
offered by UN-brokered cooperation.  It is time to commit to the 
struggle of taking another step forward, rather than ten steps back.

Peace,

John.




Morton K.Brussel wrote:

> No doubt, the UN is dominated by the U.S., and has usually bowed to 
> its dictates, but it is the only international assembly existent, and 
> has given some voice to opposition to U.S. policies. The powerless 
> general assembly has, for example, had its voice promulgated on the 
> question of Israel and the middle east. And France, Germany and Russia 
> in the Security Council were able, with others,  to deny approval for 
> the Iraq aggression, albeit weakly.
>
>
> Clearly, it needs to be radically reformed, but the question is, even 
> without that: Would we all be better off without it?
>
> MKB
>
>
> On Dec 18, 2003, at 2:07 AM, John Baldridge wrote:
>
>> C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>>
>>> [Regarding Jenifer and John's reflections on the UN, here's a piece by
>>> Alex Cockburn that concludes with the position that now seems to me
>>> correct: "Please, my friends, no more earnest calls for 'a UN role,' at
>>> least not until the body is radically reconstituted along genuinely
>>> democratic lines. As far as Iraq is concerned, all occupying forces 
>>> should
>>> leave, with all contracts concerning Iraq's national assets and 
>>> resources
>>> written across the last nine months repudiated, declared null and void,
>>> illegal under international covenant."  --CGE]
>>>
>>> The UN: It Should Be Late; It Never Was Great
>>>
>>> By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
>>>
>>> Nikita Khrushchev wrote in his incomparable memoirs that Soviet 
>>> admirals,
>>> like admirals everywhere, loved battleships, because they could get 
>>> piped
>>> aboard in great style amid the respectful hurrahs of their crews. 
>>> It's the
>>> same with the UN, now more than ever reduced to the servile function of
>>
>
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