Under the Influence: The U.N. is the United States’ to Lose

Under the Influence: The U.N. is the United States’ to Lose

The time has come, once again, to castigate the United Nations. In response to North Korea's test-missile firing, the Security Council remained deadlocked in its anachronistically Cold War ways and couldn't muster a full resolution. Instead, it passed a presidential statement, which the U.S. has since had to argue is even legally binding. North Korea has since expelled U.N. weapon inspectors and said it will again pursue weapons-grade plutonium. This comes on the heels of a general failure of the Human Rights Council, a missing-in-action secretary general and the U.S. boycotting the U.N.-hosted World Conference on Racism in Geneva this week.

Considering where the U.N. came from, all of this is quite curious. After all, the U.N. was, in large part, a creation of the United States. As the U.S. and Russia hold veto power over all matters at the Security Council, it was little surprise that next to nothing was accomplished over the course of the Cold War. However, today's interconnected global order -- with its transnational threats, proliferation of non-state actors and fickle economic system -- would seemingly demand exactly an international roundtable on the magnitude of the U.N. As Henry Kissinger puts it, "The international system thus faces a paradox. . . . The managers of globalization have few occasions to manage its political processes."

As disorder prevails and American foreign policy obviates a grand strategy to pursue an Obamian pragmatic path, it would actually serve U.S. interests far more than many would like to admit to first exercise, and then all-out flex, the country's diplomatic muscle at the U.N.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review