JINSA Policy Director James Colbert’s Op-Ed on UN Reform Appears in Right Side News, 10/24/2011
The Chairwoman’s Effort to Compel UN Reform
by James Colbert, JINSA Policy Director
Monday, 24 October 2011
The Chairwoman’s Effort to Compel UN Reform
by James Colbert, JINSA Policy Director
Monday, 24 October 2011
That the United Nations is dysfunctional, overly bureaucratic, and far too often hostile to U.S. interests is axiomatic. Successive scandals in recent years have further discredited it. But more troubling for Americans is the fact that as recently as two years ago, the vast majority of the biggest recipients of U.S. foreign aid took positions in opposition to the United States in UN votes more than half of the time. Israel, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the striking exception. In fact, Jerusalem agreed with U.S. votes 97 percent of the time.
It is also obvious that despite tough talk and political rhetoric, the powers that be in Washington have failed to do anything about the UN’s devolution into what can reasonably be described as a trans-border forum for hostility toward the United States. Americans consistently express their disappointment at this state of affairs. Gallup polling on American attitudes toward the UN reveals that for the past five years slightly more than 70 percent believe the UN is doing a poor job in trying to solve the problems it faces.