Kathreb

Logic to make your brain explode

I opened this mornings paper to be confronted with the distasteful news that John Bolton, hater of the UN, unilateralist extraoridnaire, has been formally nominated to become US Ambassador to the UN. Condi Rice who made the nomitation tried to mitigate the impact by reminding us that fellow AEI necon Jeane Kirkpatrick has already blazed this trail so it is not the end of the world. (I am glad to say I am too young to remember anything of Ms. Kirkpatrick's time in the UN. Although I have read stuff about her since, I feel fully unqualified at this point to say anymore on her record). Some are even cautiously optimistic that his hardline ways may jolt the UN into taking necessary reform. It is however, difficult to see this news as being "good".

The most logical reason to advocate such a figure would presumably be to promote reform in the UN. Yet, despite many claims that Mr. Bolton is an intelligent man, one thing he has clearly demonstrated on so many occasions is that he is not a diplomat - this man has no tact. More disconcerting is that rather than having a record calling for UN reform, his mantra has been to call on the US to ignore, avoid, and circumvent the UN. His credibility to be a genuine mover for reform seems highly questionable. I am only comforted by the knowledge that such a position in not able to direct policy.

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