Hot air wafts from the East River
This year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York City has refocused attention on the chronic and lamentable fact that the international body is sclerotic, corrupt, and almost useless.
TL;DR
- The UN is criticized as sclerotic, corrupt, and almost useless.
- Leaders lament the UN's inability to prevent wars and its Security Council veto structure.
- Concerns are raised about the UN aiding mass illegal migration despite advocating for diverse cultures.
- Calls for Security Council reform suggest the world is larger than the five permanent members.
- Argentine President Javier Milei described the General Assembly as a 'useless organization' that feeds 'parasites'.
- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's statement on Gaza's destruction was seen as dishonest, ignoring greater death tolls elsewhere.
- The General Assembly, once useful, became a 'conclave of cutthroats' by the 1960s.
- The US pays $760 million annually to the UN budget.
- An international forum is necessary for crisis resolution, making the UN, despite its flaws, the only option currently available.
- Massive reform is needed, but without granting more authority to 'bad guys'.