The United Nations Needs American Leadership

Dear readers, if you have ever wondered about the effectiveness of the United Nations as a keeper or enforcer of world peace and order, you should consider the following recent events. (1) Russia, which has supported the Syrian al-Assad regime against the entire world's stated wishes, has finally acknowledged that it may have chosen a losing partner. "An opposition victory can't be excluded...it's necessary to look at the facts: There is a trend for the government to progressively lose control over an increasing part of the territory," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Moscow's Middle East envoy, said during hearings at a Kremlin advisory body. Russia's acknowledgment that al-Assad could lose the fight is an embarrassing blow to the regime, which describes the rebels as terrorists sent from abroad with no popular support. Despite its negative evaluation, Russia gave no indication of its intention to remove its support from the al-Assad regime or to support the UN Security Council in its effort to oust al-Assad. (2) North Korea launched a "satellite" missile after repeated failures and hundreds of millions of dollars. It is an achievement for the young despotic leader Kim Jong Un, whose late father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, made development of missiles and nuclear weapons a priority despite international opposition and his nation's poverty. Kim said the achievement "further consolidated" the country's status "as a space power," the government's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. It added that Kim "stressed the need to continue to launch satellites in the future." Kim visited the command center and gave the final written launch order. After a closed door session, the UN Security Council said that the launch violated UN resolutions against North Korea's use of ballistic missile technology and said it would "urgently" consider appropriate responses. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the launch represented a use of ballistic missile technology, not peaceful use of space. Even the North's most important ally, China, expressed regret. ~~~~~ As these two events suggest, the UN is a debating society where the world comes to talk about peace and international order as if they could do anything to achieve either. It is now, as it has always been, the umbrella for American, British, French, Canadian and Australian action - when they agree about what action to take. There are the 1950s Korean conflict and the 1990s Balkan war as prime examples. And, if you remember, it was America that led the way. Today, this is the problem - America is not leading, and without America, there is no hope of concerted UN action. It is the lack of US leadership that goes a long way to explaining Russia and China's dogged insistence on allowing al-Assad to murder 40,000 Syrians. It is the lack of US leadership that has allowed North Korea's rogue pursuit of ballistic missiles capable of launching its developing nuclear bombs. And, lest we forget, it is the lack of US leadership that is allowing Iran to continue its nuclear capability program. There are times when any country would just like to say, "count me out this time" but for America, that is not an option. President Obama has created an immensely more dangerous world by opting out during the last four years. It is time to opt back in...while America can still be taken seriously as the world's leader. Because, as US Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain point out, if America does not lead, someone else will.