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thanks mirevolver, you beat me to it.
of course it's my bottomline: could it be anyone elses?
it seems you're trying to ride both sides of the fence... on one hand you attempt to refute any criticisms of the UN, yet also maintain that it is much in need of reforming. in what ways would you reform it?
if those reforms you propose are much needed and fundamental... i'm not sure we disagree at all except that you seem married to the idea that the UN is the institution of choice for international coordination while i'm not convinced their record merits that confidence.
things i would do to reform the UN:
1) establish criteria where the united nations MUST act in a humanitarian situation. if there is blatant genocide (rwanda) or an extreme humanitarian crisis (somalia) then the UN must intervene. i make no judgement as to how stringent those guidelines should be but, as it stands, the UN demagogues humanitarian issues while avoiding the circumstances that are not politically expedient.
2) abolish all notion of international courts.
3) provide complete fiscal and bookkeeping transparency in ALL matters. the United Nations operates under pledged money and kept afloat by taxpayers around the world. it needs to be completely accountable for every dime it spends. we should know how much the secretary general takes home in pay, we should know their budget for pencil lead.
4) recognize that if the United States is going to be the one to front the money and military backing to UN actions... the US should be given special consideration in diplomatic negotiations. if they want the US to come to the table on equal footing (and i think that it should) then be prepared to pony up the funds and manpower. you will not use our troops who swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States to bear an unequal burden in peacekeeping or military action.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
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