New Book by Conservatives Finds UN is “Neither Irrelevant nor Indispensable”

A book to be released [this] week details widespread ineffectiveness and overreach at the United Nations (UN) in ten key areas, urging policy makers to withdraw support from dysfunctional programs and invest in alternative solutions.

The book, “conUNdrum: the Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives ,” is sponsored by the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation and brings together 15 experts from diverse fields. They acknowledge that the UN’s global approach is needed in certain areas, such as disease control, where the World Health Organization plays a key role, but offer practicable recommendations where local, less politicized solutions would fare better.

In the book, former U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton says the root of the problem is that there is no way to tell how the yearly $15 billion budget – including $4 billion from the U.S. – is spent, because the UN simply does not keep track. This has led to highly publicized scandals such as the "oil for food" program in Iraq and "cash for weapons" in North Korea, a burgeoning UN bureaucracy, and a decline in actual services provided to the poor and needy. The trend has "cost the UN dearly" in credibility and legitimacy according to another author.

Ambassador Terry Miller, who represented the U.S. on economic and social affairs, argues that "the talking at the UN rarely constitutes actual debate," since bloc politics and special interests prevail and participants rarely listen and respond to one another. Miller illustrates how ideology permeates proceedings, recounting how he shocked the conference room by using the words "capitalism" and "democracy" in a favorable way.

Susan Yoshihara, vice president for research at C-FAM [publisher of the Friday Fax ], shows that as UN funds and programs adopt a "rights based approach" to development, more funds are spent on "rights" advocacy, such as for abortion or rights based on sexual orientation, and less on actual services. This leads to such abuses as UNICEF’s promotion of women’s reproductive rights at the expense of its mission to increase child survival. Yoshihara uncovers undue influence by powerful special interest groups whose agendas are intertwined with official UN positions. These are often at odds with national policies and cultural and religious traditions explicitly protected by UN treaties. Other experts find similar trends in arms control and environmental policy.

Legal experts Lee Casey and David Rivkin argue that the UN is used to "create a ‘legislative’ international law system based on compulsion rather than the consent of states," especially in the area of human rights. They find the main problem with UN treaties is their use as "evidence" of emerging norms which all nations must obey, even when they are not party to them. Compounding the problem are radical interpretations of the treaties by UN officials and committees to include "rights" to abortion, homosexual "marriage" and other contentious policies.

Such "rights" are then elevated to the status of bedrock political principles such as "the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and representative government," according to Steven Groves and the book’s editor, Brett Schaefer. They recommend shutting down UN human rights activities and creating an alternative body "composed of states that demonstrably support fundamental human rights and freedoms."

Rowman & Littlefield publishers will launch "conUNdrum" on August 9th.

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