|
I just don't understand the anti-U.N. mindset so many people have. The U.N. is not antagonistic towards the U.S., nor is U.N. power compared to U.S. power a zero sum game. To quote Joseph Nye from his book, The Paradox of American Power:
"...'There is an extraordinarily impoverished mind-set at work here, one that is able to visualize long-term challenges to the system of states only in terms of entities that are institutionally substitutable for the state.' A better historical analogy is the development of markets and town life in the early feudal period. Medieval trade fairs were not substitutes for the institutions of feudal authority. They did not tear down the castle walls or remove the local lord. But they did bring new wealth, new coalitions, and new attitudes summarized by the maxim 'Town air brings freedom.'"
The U.N. never, ever could replace U.S. institutions. As Nye wrote, it is a part of a "transnational [system] that is superimposed on sovereign states," not a replacement of them. To think otherwise is to fall victim to this "extraordinarily impoverished mind-set" created by kooks afraid of black helicopters or by savvy right wing political strategists, attempting to create a potent political straw man.
__________________
"You have reached Ritual Sacrifice. For goats press one, or say 'goats.'"
|