At the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York this past September, world leaders gathered to renew efforts to make the world a better place by 2015. Though no one is holding his or her breath to see the talk turn to action, some critics are becoming more concerned about the efforts the UN is taking to become a bona fide world government.
In fact, some conservatives in Washington are calling for the U.S. to withdraw from the organization.
Supporters of the American Sovereignty Restoration Act, in a press conference onSeptember 7, presented over 300,000 signed petitions in favor of the U.S. cutting ties with the UN.
Dr. Herb Titus, the attorney who wrote the legislation, called the Millennium Summit “a unanimous mandate by world leaders and heads of state to…implement an agenda for global governance.” These critics believe that the UN’s increased efforts to take on the role of a world government undermine the sovereignty of theUnited States.
This is not the first time a nation has felt undermined by the global organization. But the U.S.?
While some are calling for the U.S. to pull out, others say America is just a lame duck in the UN anyway. In a shocking piece titled “Missing From New York:America’s Influence,” Stratfor Intelligence Systems wrote that beyond the fact that the summit was held in the U.S., “world leaders are trying to find ways to work around Washington as U.S. foreign policy increasingly drifts.”
Stratfor suggests that the days leading up to the summit showed how “the world is tuning Washington out.” Prior to the international gathering, these tête-a-têtes took place, implying that America is truly out of the global loop: Russia’s president went out of his way to visit Japan, making it clear that he would not budge on returning the Kuril Islands, which Russia seized in 1945; Israel’s foreign minister visited Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to see if he could help broker a deal over Jerusalem after the failed Camp David talks; in Libya, over a dozen African leaders met, showing Libya’s increasing influence in sub-Saharan Africa, despite America’s continuing efforts to isolate the country’s dictator, Moammar Qadhafi; Yugoslavia, similarly, tried to break out of its diplomatic isolation by brainstorming with Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba; South American leaders gathered in Brazil to discuss a problem of American concern—the present crisis in Colombia. And on, and on.
Is the world tuning Washington out? Well, why not? That is what the U.S. is doing to the rest of the world.”The vibrancy of the economy has created a sense that what happens outside of U.S. borders is of little consequence,” Stratfor wrote.
Despite the U.S.’s home-field advantage for the UN’s big powwow, it is evident that in the UN and the global scene, in general, America is losing its influence.