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What I argue here is that we can help them by allowing them to compete in the international marketplace and sell their products at better prices, and grow in wealth at the same time.
I don't disagree, all I'm arguing is that some countries don't have a choice. Take the DRC for example, richest or one of the richest in Africa for natural resources, yet Ugandan and Rwandan militias and warlords steal it from them. Nothing or very little goes to the citizens of the Congo. I seriously doubt free market economics alone can solve an issue like that.
I don't disagree, all I'm arguing is that some countries don't have a choice. Take the DRC for example, richest or one of the richest in Africa for natural resources, yet Ugandan and Rwandan militias and warlords steal it from them. Nothing or very little goes to the citizens of the Congo. I seriously doubt free market economics alone can solve an issue like that.
I agree with you here that economic policy alone wouldn't help the Congo if it is being exploited by its neighbors. Sounds like a situation where an international body should step in. I realize that the U.N. has its deficiencies but I do think that there is a place for it in the peaceful resolution of international problems and to put pressure on abusive nations.
That should be a Pan African issue. The UN would teetotally screw things up worse.
As low of an opinion of the U.N. that we may have, I seriously question whether a Pan African body would be capable of handling some of these issues. I could be wrong, though.
It should be an international effort. I don't have a low opinion of the UN at all, they could and have helped quite a bit, and so can USAID, that's what it's set up for afterall. The UN Security Council passed a resolution in 1999 to make MONUC, a 5 African nation organization, and they've solved a lot of issues, primarily ceasefires, humanitarian aid, and whatnot. Unfortunately some of the UN peacekeepers were involved in rapes which made the population untrusting of them. The peacekeepers were probably paid off by the corrupt government and militias to commit these crimes (many of them were also members of the militias). Oversight is definitely an issue with any UN backed effort, but I think that is because they don't have the international backing as they should. The more I'm learning about Africa, the more interesting its becoming. It's like Iraq on steroids as far as ethnic groups go. 200 different ethnic groups in the DRC alone! :oIf anyone's interested, here's the link (with the 8 million other links) to this week's IR assignment.I'll be taking questions anyone may have concerning the Congo at the end of the week. ;D
Why the low marks for the UN? Could it possibly be because you have set the standards and expectations too high? And is it really the UN being ineffective or is it the member states' unwillingness to cooperate?Just looking at another side here. 🙂
I think the UN set its own standards and has yet to realize them. The UN is just another bloated and inept bureaucracy run by Third World nations who resent the West for being wealthy and want socialism wherever they can establish it.
I think the UN set its own standards and has yet to realize them. The UN is just another bloated and inept bureaucracy run by Third World nations who resent the West for being wealthy and want socialism wherever they can establish it.
My personal opinion of the U.N. isn't quite so harsh, but I do understand DB's sentiments. I think the existence of an international mechanism through which nations can peacefully resolve their differences is a significant improvement over past history, when nations might resolve to warfare if they thought they didn't have good alternatives. The negative aspects of the U.N. are that it can become a means by which large nations lose some sovereignty to groups of smaller nations. It can also be a vehicle by which the ideology of some nations is pushed as the ideology for all nations to adopt, and not adopting it is met with repercussions. In other words, a world morality is pushed onto all. This is bad given the liberal bent of many European nations.Another potential negative thing about the U.N. in theory is that it can sometimes be slow to act due to the natural bureaucracy associated with many members. I say “potential negative thing” because this can also be a positive thing when rash decisions are avoided.
I have to agree with Don here. The Un is a waste. All it is is a forum where third world nations can show their resentment of the west and blame all their ills on either America or European colonialism while absolving themselves of any responsibility for the conditions in which their country is in. I think we should have the Un build their HQ's in the middle of sub-sharan Africa so they could be closer to those they need to help. Can you imagine the howls if the US kicked the UN out of NY and quit ponying up the moeny for the UN's budget? The dues paid by America are like paying the kid across the street that lives in a dump to kick you and have him tell you how bad you are at the same time. Come to think of it, there are women in Vegas who make good money doing that.
So I guess the best alternative then is to let everyone starve, get killed, get raped, be oppressed, and stay illiterate?
So I guess the best alternative then is to let everyone starve, get killed, get raped, be oppressed, and stay illiterate?
Simply put, yes. Neither I nor my nation is responsible for bootstrappping the rest of the world. And for the record, the US does in fact do more than the UN in combatting most of those ills. However, we provide aid out of the goodness of our heart and because it is the right thing to do not because we have to. I fervently believe that the money the US gives the UN could be spent better and to more effect by us than by the UN.
So I guess the best alternative then is to let everyone starve, get killed, get raped, be oppressed, and stay illiterate?
By heavens no! By ridding the world of the UN we actually could address those issues even better!
