"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin."

~ H. L. Mencken

Bolton under the microscope

Posted: July 29th, 2006 | Author: Aaron | Filed under: beltway, economics, politics, usa, world |

As much as my intuition warned me not to, I tentatively welcomed the appointment of John Bolton to the UN. I shouldn’t have, not then, not now.

The UN is a stuffy, corruptible, and languid organisation. The UN is hamstrung by the conflicting agendas of its membership and its overly bureaucratic structure. Even at its highest echelons, at the Security Council (UNSC), priorities and realpolitik muddy any chance of collective will and action.

The UN was in desperate need of reform and it had shown little evidence that it was changing.

Bolton was to be the fox in the coup, running around, basically upsetting people. The problem is, this is exactly what has happened, and the strategy has crashed and burned. One man can neither change the world, nor it seems the UN. Bolton was always a filthy neocon, with an insidious little agenda, but he only had a limited tenure and could possibly upset the clucking bureaucrats just enough to get the juices of reform flowing.

I suppose this may indeed happen. The G77 group of developing countries has emerged as a bulwark against the dominating politicking of the industrialised nations. Led by several African, Asian, and South American leaders, the G77 has demanded it be consulted in any future UN. However, to this point, the G77 has simply locked horns with the G8, and any restructuring has been stillborn.

One has to blame Bolton for some of this. His temper, conduct, and explicit contempt for the organisation and its membership, has simply put too many backs up. The fox has bitten off too many heads it seems. Like all of President Bush’s appointments, including now it seems Ben Bernanke, Bolton arrived with a show of bluster and the patting of backs, but has been exposed as a bungling baboon unfit for high office.

If America is to actually retain any of its respect in the global community, it must shed this moustachioed clown and appoint someone of actual worth. I would rather have no reform at the UN, than ‘bad reform,’ but with Bolton at the table its difficult to imagine progress would be possible even if the other diplomats played ball.

In a word, I was wrong.

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2 Comments on “Bolton under the microscope”

  1. 1 Richard W. Symonds said at 4:41 pm on July 29th, 2006:

    The US are out to destroy the UN, unless it does what it is told by the US.

    The UN is not doing what it is told by the US - far from it - so the US is now out to destroy it.

  2. 2 Jose said at 7:30 am on July 30th, 2006:

    True, Richard, everything now spins around that, every problem will have a direct influence on that issue. The more the problems pile up the better for the US.