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December 16, 2004
Institutional Paralysis
Wretchard nails the problem with the UN Security Council perfectly
The Security Council's structural defect is part of its design. It was meant to freeze international action, not promote it. Paralysis is a Security Council feature not a bug. While international multilateral action from recorded history has always been carried out by nations whose interests momentarily coincide, the Security Council was carefully constructed to consist of rivals whose interests clash, each with a veto over the other. The proposals put forward to limit international military action to the Security Council are tantamount to preventing alliance action because all "legitimate" international action is made the province of the parties in conflict.
Exactly why we need to develop an alternative institution(s) if we are ever to address post Cold-War realities. That the exact nature and structure of these institutions haven't been worked out to their final form isn't an argument for sticking with the failed UN. Even ad hoc alliances seem preferable to what we have now with the Security Council.
Posted by Tom at December 16, 2004 11:35 AM
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