I think that the United States should minimize its role in the political parts of the U.N. and focus almost solely on the organization's humanitarian efforts. The United States could do this by not trying to influence the U.N. on political matters, thus fully justifying not seeking its approval in foreign policy decisions.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

um...says who?

Many member nations of the UN are not democratic. So the comparison is not valid.

If the UN stuck to humanitarian aid, no one would be complaining about it.

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My Political Blog (Updated Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

You do realize that withdrawing from the UN also means withdrawal from the other parts than the Security Council and General Assembly.

I'll just repeat what I told SS years ago..


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As for how close The United States and the United Nations should be.. Keep your friends close by and your enemies closer.

Kneejerks that think disbanding the UN will make things instantly better without realizing that sub-organizations such as the UNHCR, WHO, WTO, IAEA, UNICEF, UNESCO, WorldBank, etc will also disappear if the UN were to disband. It needs some serious tweaking but scrapping it entirely is not the answer.

All this talk of disbanding the UN.. It's like listenning a person bithe & moan & complain about how terrible the dinner party is and how annoying the guests are. Someone needs to remind this person that the dinner party is at his house, he invited the guests, and it was his idea to have a party to begin with.

The UN headquarters is inside NewYorkCity in the USA for a reason and it wasn't by accident... it's the USA's party.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

That is obvious. Explain to me why we should care. Explain to me what will change.

The UN legitimizes oppressive governments. We should not be helping to legitimize oppressive governments.

If by "kneejerks" you mean people like me, most of us would not have a problem with the UN if it stuck to economic and humanitarian issues.

I do not believe it is salvagable at this point. It needs to be scrapped and rebuilt from the bottom up.

And non-democracies need not apply this time.

The US doesnt own the UN. At that dinner party it is your house, and if you dont like the guests you can kick them out. The analogy doesnt apply, because the US doesnt have absolute power over the UN.

The fact that we dont always get our way in the UN makes it obvious that it is NOT our party. Gimme a break.

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My Political Blog (Updated Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

I agree with this mostly. The only issue I have is to what degree we take the last sentence. In order for the world community to have some control over dictatorships we need first to bring those countries to the table. Many times economic development is a prerequisite to disposing of tyranny and keeping it gone. So we need some medium to drag dictatorships into the world system and pressure them into economic and human rights reforms. We can't take on everybody. And we do have to face that in some cases dictatorships exist due to regional instability and economic hell that keeps the people from falling under rule of law. We need to dispose of the need for a dictator before we can get rid of a dictator forever (the next one to come into power won't be any different).

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

Even assuming we do, why do they have to sit on our side of the table?

You wouldnt think so, but we have been doing a pretty good job of it so far...

I have already supported what you are saying; that the UN needs to remain a forum for economic and humanitarian issues. But as far as a world governing body goes, it needs to be scrapped and replaced with something better.

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My Political Blog (Updated Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

The USA has been legitimizing oppressive governments since forever... with or without the UN's help.

Perhaps you should hold your own country to the same standard before asking others.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

Exactly. Since when have we cared in the least?

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Welcome back, stekim! I hope your vacation went well. What is your stance on our involvement in the United Nations?

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)