New UN President

[SupremeC]

Yep. Would you want a Russian President? All the major powers are keeping each other in check

 

[The Last Conformist]

Never been an American, but there was an Indian in 1953, and Germany had one in 1980, according to Wikipedia.

If so, Wikipedia is wrong. The previous Secretaries General:

Trygve Lie 1946–53, Norway
Dag Hammarskjöld 1953–61, Sweden
U Thant 1962–71, Burma
Kurt Waldheim 1971–81, Austria
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar 1981–91, Peru
Boutros Boutros-Ghali 1992–96, Egypt
Kofi Annan 1997–2006, Ghana

 

[Xenocrates]

There's a rumour going round that Tony Blair covets the job.

 

[Grisu]

I think you're mixing up President with Secretaries General

 

[Enkidu Warrior]

I think you're mixing up President with Secretaries General

Indeed. Hands up who even knew the General Assembly had a President. The General Assembly is the part of the UN with the most moral authority and (surprise, surprise) the least actual power.

 

[Elrohir]

Dude, not to be a douche or anything, but it seems to me from your posting that you don't really give a crap about the UN anyway. You always seem to berate the UN as an ineffecient bureaucratic cesspool of corruption.

If thats how you feel about the UN, why would you care if an American holds a top post?

Pretty much. But if we're going to pour American taxdollars down the drain, we should at least get something for it. Simple economics, something of mine for something of yours. As far as I can tell, the US' relationship with the UN involves the US giving the UN tons of cash and a place for their headquarters, and the UN giving us the finger in return.

I think it is ridiculous for the Security Council members to never get top ranking posts, like this, in the UN. Of course, I think most of what the UN does is inefficient and ridiculous.

 

[The Last Conformist]

I think you're mixing up President with Secretaries General

Um, yes.

 

[GoldEagle]

A woman!

Yes, finally we can have less masculine phallus waving.

Don't you mean more masculine?

 

[ybbor]

so...what does the President actually do?

 

[EdwardTking]

Sheikha Haya is currently a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation Arbitration Committee and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration. She is also a member of the Bahrain Supreme Counsil of Culture, Arts & Literature and the former Vice-President of the Bahrain Bar Association.

Umm - she might be a Bill Gates plant.

 

[tomsnowman123]

As far as I can tell, the US' relationship with the UN involves the US giving the UN tons of cash and a place for their headquarters, and the UN giving us the finger in return.

I think it is ridiculous for the Security Council members to never get top ranking posts, like this, in the UN. Of course, I think most of what the UN does is inefficient and ridiculous.

The US has always had a lot of influence in the UN, although we lost some of it because of the Iraq War I think, when we kind of brushed the UN aside. Still, you can't ignore a country like the US.

As for the UN being inefficient and ridiculous, it needs major changes. The government needs to support reforms to democratize the United Nations, such as more proportionality and power in the General Assembly, an elected Security Council, and the elimination of the Great Power Veto on the Security Council.

Somehow though, I don't think the US would want to limit our power. President Bush really seems to like it.

 

[The Yankee]

As far as I can tell, the US' relationship with the UN involves the US giving the UN tons of cash and a place for their headquarters, and the UN giving us the finger in return.

Haven't we been not paying at least a portion of the dues to the UN for a while now?

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1659243.htm

Are we supposed to care because the UN is such an effective organization?

 

[malclave]

As far as I can tell, the US' relationship with the UN involves the US giving the UN tons of cash and a place for their headquarters, and the UN giving us the finger in return.

Well, the U.N. is appalled at the U.S.A.'s human rights record.

In a highly unusual instance of a United Nations official singling out an individual country for criticism, Mr. Malloch Brown said that although the United States was constructively engaged with the United Nations in many areas, the American public was shielded from knowledge of that by Washington's tolerance of what he called "too much unchecked U.N.-bashing and stereotyping."

Bolding mine... Mr. Malloch Brown is deputy to Secretary General Kofi Annan.
(from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/w...ef=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin)

Clearly, the U.N. is adamantly opposed to the exercise of free speech and strongly desires the U.S. to be less tolerant of civil rights.

 

[Blazer6]

The US has always had a lot of influence in the UN, although we lost some of it because of the Iraq War I think, when we kind of brushed the UN aside. Still, you can't ignore a country like the US.

I don't remember the U.S. having any influence when the other seats were busy expelling us from the human rights seat, for a country with a horrible record. The UN gave up what little authority they had in Iraq when their prized building got car bombed years ago.

 

[GenMarshall]

Time already to elect a new Secretery General at the UN?

 

[tomsnowman123]

I don't remember the U.S. having any influence when the other seats were busy expelling us from the human rights seat, for a country with a horrible record. The UN gave up what little authority they had in Iraq when their prized building got car bombed years ago.

We are a permanent member of the Security Council. That in itself is quite a bit of power.

 

[Blazer6]

It is still a popularity contest when the US got voted off that particular seat. Being high up in a club can only do so much when numbers matter.

 

[tomsnowman123]

It is still a popularity contest when the US got voted off that particular seat. Being high up in a club can only do so much when numbers matter.

Well, we still have the veto power, and we provide 22% of the UN's funding, which means we could potentially hurt it financially.

 

[7ronin]

It makes no difference who heads the United Nations. The various offices of the U.N. are staffed by a thoroughly entrenched bureaucracy which operates according to its own agenda with little regard for the wishes of either the General Assembly or the Security Council.