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WHAT IS THE FUSS ALL ABOUT?
Since its formation, the UN had been under huge influence from
the USA and it had followed it and supported in many events throughout history,
although there are some exceptions.
Here is just a small list of events in which the USA had
exercised its power in the UN: (you may click on them for more information)
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Korean War (1950-1953)
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Suez Crisis (1956)
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US involvement in Nicaragua (1986)
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Gulf War (1991)
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Post-Gulf War conflict (1991-?)
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As we are going to see, the USA had
violated the UN Charter, International Law and Human Rights, and had in fact
been condemned by the International Court of Justice in 1986.
But how does the USA have this large
influence on the UN and the whole world?:
There are several factors contributing to
America's influence:
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the Veto and the UN's organization
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America's economic strength
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America's political influence on other
nations and puppet governments
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America's military strength
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Terrorizing other nations
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The weaknesses of other nations
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This articles will explain and prove the
above points.
WHAT IS THE VETO?
To answer this question, we need to look briefly at the
organization of the UN.
Above is a chart showing the organization of the United Nations.
The 2 most important organizations are the General Assembly and
the Security Council. They are the only 2 bodies which take decisions.
What are the differences between them?
| Security Council |
General Assembly |
| Decisions (called Resolutions) are
obligatory (i.e. must be obeyed) |
Decisions are not obligatory (i.e. it
is up to the members to obey or disobey the decisions) |
Responsible for international peace
and security and it may settle disputes by:
| diplomatic sanctions |
| economic sanctions |
| using military force |
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Resolutions are just suggestions or
recommendations. |
| Meets frequently. |
Only meets once a year and in special
sessions as required. |
Consisted of 11 (now 15) members:
| 5 PERMANENT MEMBERS: USA, UK, USSR (now
Russia), France and China |
| 6 (now 10) NON-PERMANENT MEMBERS, elected
by General Assembly |
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Consists of all members of the United
Nations |
| Each member has one vote |
Each member has one vote regardless of
size |
| Decisions needed a 'yes' vote from 7
(now 9) members including ALL FIVE permanent members |
Decisions must have a two-thirds
majority
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| But until now we have not mentioned
what is the veto!
Well, the veto comes in the last point mentioned in the above table.
The veto is the right given to the 5 nations to prevent any decision
taken by the Security Council. Since those 5 nations are also permanent in
the Security Council, any decision must be agreed by them.
Basically, the USA, the UK, Russia, China and France are controlling the
United Nations!!!
Those 5 nations have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 40
times.
Those 5 nations also possess a lot of power and influence over the UN
through other methods, not just the veto, which will be mentioned later.
But the truth is that it is the USA which has the most strength amongst
these 5 nations:
WHAT HAS THE VETO DONE?
| Between 1967 and June 2002, the
USA had used the veto 75 times (25 of them, i.e. one third, were against
Arab nations) |
| since the 1960s, the USA is far
in the lead, the UK is 2nd and France is a distant 3rd in using vetoes |
| in 1986, the USA had "vetoed a
Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe international
law (scarcely reported), and voted alone (with El Salvador and Israel)
against a General Assembly Resolution calling for "full and immediate
compliance" with the Court’s ruling—unreported in the mainstream"
(SOURCE: The
Passion for Free Markets: Exporting American values through the new World
Trade Organization, by Noam Chomsky) |
| in 1987, the repetition occurred
with the General Assembly as the USA had also voted alone (this time only
with Israel) |
| "the U.S. had vetoed UN
resolutions on a wide range of issues including international law, human
rights, environmental protection, and so on"
(SOURCE:
The Passion for Free Markets:
Exporting American values through the new World Trade Organization,
by Noam Chomsky) |
| "When the question (Israeli
settlements in Jerusalem) moved to the General Assembly, the U.S. and
Israel stood alone in opposition, again a standard pattern."
(SOURCE: The
Passion for Free Markets: Exporting American values through the new World
Trade Organization, by Noam Chomsky) |
| during the Qana massacre of 1996
by Israel in South Lebanon, the USA had threatened to veto any decision to
investigate the massacre and the same happened in 2002 during the Jenin
massacre |
| The General Secretary of the UN,
Butrus Ghali demanded a report to be written on the Qana massacre
committed by Israel against the UN refugee centre in South Lebanon where
innocent civilians were killed. As a result, the USA decided to sack him. |
The above were just a few examples of
the American use of the veto.
A clever reader may ask himself, "If
the USA has a lot of influence on the members of the UN, why does it have to
veto? Why don't the other members vote in favour of it?"
We will answer this question, but
first we need to look at the other factors contributing to America's
influence.
AMERICA'S ECONOMIC STRENGTH
Unarguably, the USA has the strongest
economy in the world.
America had managed to use its
economic strength in 2 ways:
| Foreign Aid |
| Multi-national Corporations |
First of all, the USA, the USSR and
other western nations, had given (and some still give), economic aids to
poor nations through foreign loans.
But these loans are not given for
free. Not only do they have to be repaid with huge interest, but also they
require poor nations to comply to the loaners' economic and political
demands.
AMERICA'S POLITICAL INFLUENCE
AMERICA'S MILITARY STRENGTH
WEAKNESSES OF OTHER NATIONS
WHY THERE IS MORE RELIANCE ON
THE VETO?
BUT THERE IS SOME HOPE
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