After a week of intense deliberations over North Korea’s missile launch, the UN Security Council (UNSC) opened its doors and emitted a mighty roar…of a mouse. The UNSC’s failure to defend its resolutions against Pyongyang’s unambiguous violation bodes ill for diplomatic efforts to prevent proliferation and denuclearize North Korea. China’s willingness to derail the international push to punish North Korea for its transgression should lay to rest perceptions of Beijing as a “responsible stakeholder.” It is also a stark reminder of the need for US missile defense at a time …
What does the U.S. Agency for International Development get for a $25 million grant to two United Nations agencies working in Afghanistan? How about “a central bank without electricity and a bridge at risk of ‘life threatening’ collapse”? According to a USA Today story on the USAID inspector general report, “The U.N. delivered shoddy work, diverted money to other countries and then stonewalled U.S. efforts to figure out what happened.” Unsurprisingly, one of the two UN agencies involved in the scandal is the UN Development Program (the other culprit in …
Over the past month, the press in predominantly Muslim countries was abuzz that President Barack Obama was scheduled to attend the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum during his recent visit to Turkey. The AoC is an attempt by the U.N. to quell perceived tensions between Muslim and Western nations by promoting “dialogue” – an interesting word choice for what is, in effect, a one way conversation. The base document for the Alliance of Civilizations focuses on the supposed failings of Western countries while largely ignoring the faults of Muslim …
North Korea’s launch of a long-range Taepo Dong 2 missile would be a direct challenge not just to the United States but to the international community’s resolve to confront threats to regional stability. Pyongyang’s willingness to escalate tensions shows that, despite the change in U.S. leadership, North Korea will not adopt a more accommodating stance. U.N. Resolutions 1695 and 1718 unambiguously prohibit Pyongyang from launching a missile or “satellite.”
While an earthquake shifts the ground beneath our feet, the United Nation’s climate change proposal would shift trillions of dollars in wealth transfers and entail “ job losses and gains, new taxes, industrial relocations, new tariffs and subsidies, and complicated payments for greenhouse gas abatement schemes and carbon taxes.” And while earthquakes inflict considerable amounts of economic damage, it pales in comparison to the economic burden a carbon dioxide reduction scheme would do – not only in the United States but also in other developed countries and developing countries. The …
Yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called the United States a “deadbeat” donor to the world body. The White House called these words “unfortunate” and at least rightfully acknowledged the “the contribution that the American taxpayer makes.” However, these words are much more than “unfortunate.” Let’s start with our donor status. The United States puts up 22% of the operating budget of the United Nations. Compared to other well populated nations with large economies, this is an outstanding number. China barely tops 2%, Brazil is just over 1% and Russia and …
So the man who oversaw a $60 billion global scam—also known as the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program—has been rightfully disgraced. In January 2007, the United States charged Benon Sevan with bribery and conspiracy to commit fraud. Sevan, a native Cypriot, continues to evade justice by hiding out on his home island—with which the U.S. has no extradition treaty. The U.N.’s reaction to the man at the center of a conspiracy involving prominent politicians, senior U.N. officials, and more than 2,000 companies in 66 countries? It intends to pay Sevan’s nearly $1 …
Just when you thought that you had seen everything, here come the World Bank and the United Nations to claim their slice of the government bailout pie. According to the Times Online, “The UN and the World Bank are lobbying for a portion of the billions of dollars allocated to bailing out the West’s banking systems to be diverted to prevent 400 million people sinking into poverty across Asia in the wake of the global economic crisis.” All the world has to do is allocate some 1 percent of their …
Despite the 5,800 miles between them, events yesterday in Poznan, Poland, and Sacramento, California, shed a frightening light on the direction President-elect Barack Obama’s administration wants to take our country on energy policy. First in Poznan, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) promised delegates at an international climate conference that “Congress and the president-elect are committed to movement on mandatory goals as rapidly as possible.” According to Obama’s transition website, the preferred enforcement mechanism for these mandatory goals would be a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions, which any honest economist will …
As countries from all over the world reconvene in frigid Posnan, Poland for the second week of United Nations climate change discussions, the potential for a global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions appears to be fading, much like global warming hysteria itself. Reuters reports, A year ago, 190 nations signed up for a two-year push to agree a comprehensive climate treaty at talks in Copenhagen in late 2009. But negotiators and analysts attending preparatory Dec. 1-12 talks in Poznan say that looks out of reach.” A new global pact …
