 Yesterday, the Eastern Michigan community celebrated United Nations day, the anniversary of the adoption of the U.N. charter in 1945. The day has come to symbolize the power of countries working in concert and setting the course for work left to be done. While the concerns of global scope can seem insurmountably abstract, and while the general conservative antipathy for the U.N. has been made incarnate under President Bush with his appointment of John Bolton, we at the Echo are glad EMU has taken the time to reaffirm the successes of the U.N. and pledge itself to supporting this most important international organization. The main charges repeated, even sometimes in these pages, against the U.N. are that it is too weak to effectively prevent armed conflict, that it is a "talking shop" where little of substance is accomplished and that it is corrupt and bloated. To take the third point first, the recent scandal over the Oil For Food program was a serious black eye for the institution of the U.N. However, it is worth noting both that serious investigations have been ongoing and that proposed reforms are moving through the organization regarding transparency and oversight from member nations.
From the beginning of the program member nations were required to monitor the compliance of companies that were based in their countries and did business through the program, including the U.S. There was well-known corruption within the program, even extending to companies based within the U.S.
This, however was downplayed even by the Bush administration until it became convenient to attack the institution of the U.N. with charges of malfeasance, especially when endeavoring to undermine U.N. opposition to a war in Iraq. This is not to excuse the fraud and theft that ran through the heart of the program but rather to put into context the opportunistic nature of these complaints.
The second charge often leveled at the U.N. is it is nothing more than a parliamentary parlor for meaningless resolutions. This is doubly wrongheaded, in that the U.N. both achieves quantifiable goals through organizations like UNICEF, and in that having a forum for the peaceful discussion of international conflict is itself a huge boon to the people of the planet. While the U.S. has the power to negotiate with any one nation it chooses, often on its own terms, having the U.N. allows smaller, poorer or less-developed nations to both discuss regional concerns on a larger stage and to do so transparently. The ability to discuss issues from tariffs to voting rights in a global community both promotes a common morality and eases tensions.
And finally, there is the argument that the U.N. is not strong enough to prevent conflict often, paradoxically, voiced by those who oppose funding increases or who favor maverick actions of governments on an international scale. The U.N.'s budget, which is only slightly higher than Wyoming's, is constantly under attack by conservatives who behave petulantly when the rest of the world fails to privilege their priorities. Yet these are often the same people who hold up the U.N.'s inability to prevent genocide in Darfur as evidence of its irrelevance. If the U.N. had the strong support that it needs, and opinion polls have consistently shown Americans to be in favor of a stronger U.N., it would have the muscle it needs to effectively fulfill its charter.
There is another argument for a stronger U.N. that isn't very popular on our shores, though it gains in popularity abroad; for there to truly be balance in global affairs, a counterweight to America's position as the last military and economic superpower is necessary both for the world and for America. Without a countervailing force, America is likely to act arrogantly and brashly, with our leaders less likely to consider the unintended repercussions of their actions. Far too often, America does not respect what it does not fear, and that leads us to overestimate our own power and position. Having a strong U.N. both provides a check on our impetuousness or any other superpower that might emerge, and allows us to work with it to make the entire world a better place for all people, including ourselves.
We thank EMU for recognizing the need for a U.N. and for nations uniting. Staff Edit Published on Wednesday 25th October 2006 by Echo Online
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