This is a moment of several overlapping transitions at the United Nations. A new secretary-general will take over when Kofi Annan’s 10 years are up at the end of December. New countries will join the Security Council as temporary members. And UN agencies are choosing new leadership.
The global market and technological advancements have the ability to transform the world with remarkable speed. Not many would be surprised to hear that the computer I am using to write this article may be comprised of components from at least 10 different countries. The monitor may come from Singapore, the processor from Israel, the software designed in India, and all assembled in Tennessee. We are becoming so accustomed to this phenomenon, that we don’t even blink an eye.
The election of a Democratic majority in the House and Senate is unlikely to result in any serious challenge to the Bush administration’s support for Israeli attacks against the civilian populations of its Arab neighbors and the Israeli government’s ongoing violations of international humanitarian law.
This month, the Shurat HaDin Law Center is taking foreign tourists on an eight-day "exploration of Israel’s struggle for survival and security" that includes briefings by intelligence officers and demonstrations by masked commandoes, as well as visits to military trials of Hamas members.
A new U.S. intelligence report, representing the consensus of all 16 intelligence agencies, comes to the same conclusion many have known for a long time: The Iraq War isn’t making us safer. It’s putting us all at greater risk. It’s making another terrorist attack more likely. The report is another piece of evidence that the Bush administration is lying about the war.
A 5% economic growth rate has done little for Mozambique’s vast poverty stricken population. And although the world’s poorest countries have recently enjoyed their highest growth rates in two decades, the growth is fragile and not necessarily improving human well-being. These are some of the findings in the recently released United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Least Developed Countries Report.
The world is holding its collective breath. Will the Lebanon ceasefire hold? Will war and ethnic cleansing escalate again in Darfur? UN peacekeeping, described by Secretary General Kofi Annan as Âthe only fire brigade in the world that has to acquire a fire engine after the fire has started, will be key in both situations to preventing further death and destruction. Prompt UN protection of civilians in war-torn regions, however, requires a new institution: a rapidly deployable UN Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS).
Would a bomb by another name be any less explosive? Would a landmine by another name be less pernicious?
Although the American media generally depicted Kofi Annan’s end-of-term reform package for the United Nations as a failure, its achievements are by no means negligible. The cup is certainly more than half full. Frankly some of the Âfailures, such as reform of the Security Council, were not only entirely predictable but relatively benign as well. Above all, the successful adoption of the ÂResponsibility to Protect at last year’s summit far outweighs any perceived or alleged failures in mere administrative reform. Such a framework of principles to protect human rights goes directly to what many of the world’s people expect of the organization.
Question: How much is an Iraqi life worth? Answer: A lot less than an American or British life, according to the amount of compensation paid to the relatives of victims.