Which Way, L.A.?
The Future of the United Nations
Though the US wanted the final deadline for Saddam Hussein to avoid war by disarming to be Monday, the White House says it-s not holding fast to the deadline or the need for a new resolution. Despite today-s promise of -flexibility,- it-s no secret that President Bush and his supporters are increasingly impatient with the United Nations. Critics fault the UN-s reluctance to disarm Iraq by force as an institutional weakness that could be fatal. Supporters claim that the Security Council-s success in delaying a US attack proves the UN-s crucial role in world affairs. Is the UN becoming irrelevant or indispensable? We hear from a former US deputy ambassador to the UN, a senior advisor to the Secretary General, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based Centre for the New Europe, and the director of the World Policy Institute at the New School University in New York. (This program was originally broadcast earlier today on To the Point.)
By Warren Olney • • 30m ListenThough the US wanted the final deadline for Saddam Hussein to avoid war by disarming to be Monday, the White House says it-s not holding fast to the deadline or the need for a new resolution. Despite today-s promise of -flexibility,- it-s no secret that President Bush and his supporters are increasingly impatient with the United Nations. Critics fault the UN-s reluctance to disarm Iraq by force as an institutional weakness that could be fatal. Supporters claim that the Security Council-s success in delaying a US attack proves the UN-s crucial role in world affairs. Is the UN becoming irrelevant or indispensable? We hear from a former US deputy ambassador to the UN, a senior advisor to the Secretary General, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based Centre for the New Europe, and the director of the World Policy Institute at the New School University in New York. (This program was originally broadcast earlier today on To the Point.)
