BROKEN INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

Why has the United Nations lost credibility on the international stage?

 

By Sidney Hey 

At the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, and following speeches by some of the world’s leading figures, there can be no doubt about the disarray afflicting the international system. From a lacklustre address by the outgoing Secretary-General, Antonio Guterrez, to the presence of a war criminal subject to an international arrest warrant namely Benjamin Netanyahu and the resulting condemnation by a majority who chose to walk out of the chamber, all this puts into context the abnormal situation in which we find ourselves. There is no doubt that Donald Trump takes the biscuit when it comes to illustrating this situation. Whilst he alone contributes to creating further controversy surrounding the US’s position on the international stage, it is also true that he is not solely responsible for the current decline in the organisation’s institutional integrity.

Amidst two wars in which the US plays a critical active role (acting on behalf of Israel), with thousands dead, wounded or displaced, and material damage that has ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands more, and amidst preparations for a ground invasion of Iran, the Assembly appears to be nothing more than a chamber devoid of power, with a deaf audience, serving only as a backdrop to the cacophony of empty and entirely uncompromising speeches. Precisely as this session is taking place, it has emerged, according to United Nations rapporteurs in Geneva, that 130,000 Yemenis have now been displaced and more than 110 killed since Saudi Arabia, at Washington’s instigation, launched its attack on Yemen.

Nor should we overlook the US provision of 2.8 trillion dollars’ worth of equipment and some 60,000 one-tonne heavy bombs to Tel Aviv, with which the IDF will undoubtedly kill more innocent Palestinians and will surely also use them in some treacherous action against Yemen and Iran. Let us not forget that Netanyahu and his associates had been talking for two years, right up until February this year, about the plan to expand ‘Greater Israel’ a plan which (much to the fury of the Zionists) has clearly been thwarted by Iranian resolve and Trump’s stupidity. It is for these reasons, and many others, that it is impossible to take the leaders in Washington seriously when they cry wolf about threats to international security and peace.

You don’t need to listen to every head of state to get a picture of the global situation. As the saying goes, ‘one example is enough’, and that example is none other than the US President himself.

Trump’s address to the forum provides further grounds for a radical change in the structure and composition of this organisation, which has become anachronistic and utterly untrustworthy in the face of current realities. Trump himself called into question the usefulness of the United Nations, asking: ‘What is the purpose of this forum?

A leader who devoted himself solely to issuing threats of annihilation against Iran (which undoubtedly hints at a possible nuclear attack), to belittling Mexico, to making an effusive confession of seeking total control over the continent, and to demonstrating a complete lack of diplomatic tact, offers little hope for harmony and balance. As we saw, and in light of the effusive welcome from Arab leaders including the head of Al-Qaeda (a CIA asset) who has now become president of a ruined Syria there is no doubt about the absolute disconnect between these rulers and their peoples. Be that as it may, it is also true that these very same people who are now kissing his hand will stab him in the back tomorrow.

Likewise, like a proper loudmouth, he believes that with that language and the mannerisms of an East Brooklyn gangster, he is demonstrating power.  Whatever the case may be, or whatever he may believe, the truth is that whilst the US is perceived in Britain as a powerful player in the fields of security and trade, that power is rapidly waning, particularly in trade and finance sectors severely affected by the reckless adventure against Iran which, if not brought to an end, will definitively ruin the US and the entire hemisphere. No doubt Prime Minister Burnham realises this too, but like a true Briton, he knows how to conceal his true thoughts very well.

As Trump and some of his sycophants in the Southern Cone rightly pointed out, the forum has ceased to fulfil its purpose, but they have failed to mention who has undermined the organisation’s objectives from within. The 38 million human beings killed by the wars, interventions and utterly illegal sanctions imposed by administrations in Washington against nations (to weaken and overthrow governments) are a more than compelling argument.

But today, on the very same stage where thirty-five years ago they sowed death in Iraq, it is the Americans who are paying dearly for their plans to repeat this with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Against this backdrop, we are witnessing a staggering media blackout in the Western press, which their citizens can sense through sudden rises in fuel prices, rising interest rates and the turmoil in their countries’ economies, including that of the US.

As things stand, Donald Trump will not stop until he has created global chaos. How? By indefinitely closing the Strait of Hormuz, following his threat to annihilate the Islamic Republic of Iran, with all that this implies. The evidence of this is already on its way in large cargo planes packed with weaponry, equipment and vehicles to be deployed in a possible ground operation.