It’s been a long time since I’ve read a more persuasive (and slap-your-knee funny!) argument for the total dismantling of the United Nations than the one offered by Matt Gurney over at the National Post. It reads like an Onion article. But it’s not…it’s just another day at the good ‘ole American taxpayer-funded United Nations (emphasis mine).
The UN’s dysfunction is well known. But on Monday, it was demonstrated with exceptional clarity. This week, the foreign minister of India, S.M. Krishna, stood at the podium and began to deliver a speech to delegates. He started by expressing his pleasure at seeing delegates from two Portuguese-speaking nations, an odd statement for an Indian diplomat to make, and continued on for three more minutes, lauding the European Union. A staff member eventually interrupted Mr. Krishna, and told the statesman that upon reaching the podium, he had picked up the wrong sheaf of papers and was, in fact, reading the Portuguese foreign minister’s speech.
In India, this has become fodder for the opposition, who are calling for Mr. Krishna’s resignation. But Mr. Krishna has in fact done the world a service, by demonstrating how pointless the entire charade of UN diplomacy has become. If the text prepared for a tiny European country is so completely interchangeable with that of an emerging Asian superpower that an experienced diplomat can be fooled, is it not fair to ask if anything substantive and important is ever said at the UN? The critics have been proven right – UN diplomacy is little more than a dramatic stage act played out so nations can enjoy the appearance of global engagement without having to commit to any actual action.