The irrelevance of the United Nations

last updated 8 January 2015

Tom Rogan

NationalReview.com

Once again, the United Nations has been “rendered impotent by a small group of thugs,” said Tom Rogan. When Russia’s Vladimir Putin violated Ukraine’s sovereignty by seizing Crimea, the U.N.—which supposedly exists to maintain some semblance of international order—issued “an appeal” for calm. There were no condemnations and no sanctions. Robert Serry, a U.N. representative sent to monitor Crimea, was greeted by Putin’s armed henchmen, who ordered him to get out—“or else.” This is just the latest in a string of humiliations for the organization, which is now nothing more than “a big NGO,” delivering humanitarian aid to disaster areas like Syria. The U.N. botched its missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, and East Timor, and simply ignored the genocide in Rwanda; it is no longer “a fundamental force for good.” In a further demonstration that the U.N. stands for nothing, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently made a big show of welcoming the new ambassador from “the psychotic necrocracy” of North Korea. Global security? Human rights? Sadly, the U.N. now exists only to promote empty handshakes, “photo opportunities, and polite conversation.”