Originally published on the CGS blog on September 8, 2007.
In delivering the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and current American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John R. Bolton sought to answer the question: Does the United Nations advance the cause of freedom? (The audio/video of the event can be found on the Heritage Foundation web site.) Drum roll please…actually, before sharing Bolton’s response, I thought I’d give you a tiny hint by providing Heritage’s event description:
For many Americans, the United Nations has become synonymous with corruption, mismanagement, and a blatant disregard for human rights. The Oil-for-Food debacle, the Congo peacekeeping abuse scandal, and the failure of the UN’s new Human Rights Council, have all reinforced the image of a world body in a serious state of decline, and in need of fundamental reform. In addition, the UN has been criticized for failing to stand up to acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing, from the killing fields of Rwanda and Bosnia, to more recently the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of villagers by Sudanese-backed militias in Darfur.
Join us as former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John R. Bolton, shares his views on the state of the United Nations, and assesses whether the UN advances or actually impedes the cause of freedom internationally. Bolton is the author of the forthcoming book, Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad, and is currently a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006, prior to which he was Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
Now that’s a “fair and balanced” review of the United Nations if I’ve ever seen one! Is anyone else surprised that Heritage and folks like John Bolton haven’t yet blamed the war in Iraq on the United Nations? I know that seems outrageous, but just wait until U.S. troops are inevitably redeployed and the international community with a U.N. contingent is kindly asked to clean up our mess. I can hear the neo-conservative hawks squawking now: “The United Nations is failing to stand up to acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Iraq.” That reminds me, Daniel Drezner recently employed the Madlib to explore the many failings of Bush Administration policy initiatives. So why don’t we give something like that a try here. Let’s take the following pasage: Try plugging in “United States Congress” or “Bush Administatrion” into the first blank and then go to town.
For many Americans, the _____ has become synonymous with corruption, mismanagement, and a blatant disregard for human rights. The _____ debacle, the _____ scandal, and the failure of the _____, have all reinforced the image of _____ in a serious state of decline, and in need of fundamental reform. In addition, the _____ has been criticized for failing to stand up to acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing, from the killing fields of Rwanda and Bosnia, to more recently the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of villagers by Sudanese-backed militias in Darfur.
Today, the United Nations is more critical to international peace and security than ever before, regardless of John Bolton’s sure-to-be gloomy assessment. But just like any large, international/national organization (including Congress, the World Bank, the Executive Branch, Department of Defense) it needs to continuously seek to improve itself and explore ways to be more productive and effective in an complex, ever-changing world. You don’t simply throw the baby out with the bathwater. (It should also be noted that the United Nations has worked to reform itself in the face of modern challenges, which is more than Congress and the Administration can say!)
Okay back to the combative, unconstructive “reformer” Bolton…
His answer: The United Nations advances the cause of freedom “minimally, or occasionally, or, perhaps more precisely, accidentally…uh…at times.” Considering the source, that’s not too terribly bad! Our friend Mark Leon Goldberg hits the highlights of Bolton’s speech, including Bolton’s slap at the United Nations and North Korea in the name of Taiwanese inclusion, over at UN Dispatch.
