Abstract

SHAKING UP THE UN

The article offers a look at reforms being made within the United Nations (UN). UN General Secretary Kofi Annan has unveiled what his spokesman rightly calls a "doable" set of reforms. Those that will attract the most attention, such as a proposed enlargement of the Security Council, are not necessarily the most important. Indeed, there is also a danger that the developing nations--particularly the African states--encouraged by the media, will get bogged down in the question of who sits on the Security Council rather than addressing the more important questions of what the council and the General Assembly should do about major issues like security, poverty, development, AIDS and malaria. In an attempt to win global support Annan offered something for everyone on human rights, democracy, terrorism security and development. However, he may have been too trusting of the U.S. President George W. Bush Administration's claims of concern about democracy and human rights, given recent appointments establishing the dominance of the faith-based faction, with its reflexive antipathy to all multilateral endeavors.