Do YOU support the United Nations?

[Doc Awesome]

Inspiration of this thread came from DiscoGary

Ive done a few reports and speeches on the United Nations, and ive liked them even less each time.

Ive leaf my explanations for when people engage in debate

[usnspecialist]

having worked indirectly with some UN military personnel here and briefed some of them, i can say that (at least from the military side) they are trying to do the best they can. They are just terribly hamstrung by politics and the body itself is woefully ineffective for the most part.

[Equinox2100]

Originally Posted by usnspecialist

having worked indirectly with some UN military personnel here and briefed some of them, i can say that (at least from the military side) they are trying to do the best they can. They are just terribly hamstrung by politics and the body itself is woefully ineffective for the most part.

This.

Except for the part about working with them (yet!)

[Green Lantern]

I'd compare them sorta to communism....Ideal in theory, unrealistic in practice.

Sure world peace and cooperation is good and desirable in the objective sense, but given not all nations agree to participate, and enforcement infrequently works properly given different member wants, the UN can't really function as it should.

[phantomtofu]

An international governing body is absolutely necessary with today's growing international economy, not to mention a threat like N. Korea- that said, the UN is finding that it's hard to balance effective enforcement of international policy while respecting each county's rights as sovereign states. I realize that's an incredibly general statement, but it all comes down to picking the issues that matter and focusing, rather than ineffectively having big meetings that decide there are tings that need to be addressed and leaving it at that.

[the architect]

i love the idea of it

[Davy Jones]

On the whole, yes.

[Doc Awesome]

Well here are my problems

1. the problems surrounding its peace-keeping force. (ie: The sitation with the Belgian soldiers caught torturing Somali(?) civilians)

2. my reservations about globalization as a whole. Idk how the UN wont attempt to do the same thing the EU did to Europe if it had the oppertunity.

yes, broad statements, but will work in explanation and evidence when challenged

[chubs]

The UN may try really hard, but when it comes down to it they don't accomplish much, and what they do succeed in often has little impact. When the UN takes down some dictators I'll be impressed.

[DiscoGary]

Originally Posted by chubs

The UN may try really hard, but when it comes down to it they don't accomplish much, and what they do succeed in often has little impact. When the UN takes down some dictators I'll be impressed.

The UN won't be taking down any dictators. The UN's charter is to promote peace between countries (let's forget about how effective they are right now), not to promote peace within countries. The UN treats all countries the same regardless of how oppressive the government is. That's why you see all those goons like Chavez speaking at the UN.

Originally Posted by Doc Awesome

1. That's a problem because those troops are human, and can be prone to doing things like that. Doesn't mean the peace-keepers aren't needed. I mean, what's worse? A dictator torturing millions or a few peace-keepers torturing a few people.

It's good to see someone making the case for Abu Graib and Club Gitmo.

Originally Posted by Doc Awesome

2. I don't think the UN wants to try and do that to the rest of the world because they know it would NEVER work. You think the US is willing to become anywhere close to equals with everyone else? Globalization only works if you get some superpowers to go along with it (i.e. US, China, UK, etc). It'll NEVER happen.

The UN wants to do exactly that. If you want an example of powerful countries giving up their sovereignty, then look no further than Europe. Why would Germany or England join a collective, when they were doing fine without it? The answer is... they thought they could use it to get control over all the other member countries.

It could happen here.