Justin-Week 7

In this week’s posts I will be commenting on Thomas Weiss’ article, “Would the world be better without the UN.”

A common thought I have involving the United States government and now these multilateral institutions that they are apart of is, “what is the purpose of government.” I know everyone will have a different view on this, but I believe government’s purpose is to maintain order, provide security and protect human rights. This thought is my driving force when evaluating governments and these global institutions.

The stated purpose of the United Nations is, “to maintain international peace and security. to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.” I believe that aligns right with my value of the government, but I don’t think that is what the institution is anymore. The current UN is trying to get more involved in global economic governance and I think that is out of their scope. (I have have a strong capital mindset) These multilateral institutions are intersecting goals nowadays such as the WTO. I believe the UN is drifting towards a regulatory agency and that is no the purpose of it.

I approve of the UN having a military and legal capacity, but only to take action against a clear act of human rights violations. Other than that, I feel that the UN should be treated as an open space for countries to partake in discussions to better their wants and needs. I believe the UN is essential to the world, but think it needs to restructure itself back to its original intent.