A Libertarian’s Rant

Multi-Lateralism April 21, 2009

The Wall Street recently published an interesting article that illuminates the incongruence between Obama’s vision of international multi-lateralism and the impotence of the United Nations. The latest example is the North Korean missile crisis. Russia – still unable to cope with the loss of its superpower status – seems to be undertaking anything in its power to damage American interests, and is therefore not the least interested in making multilateralism work. China has its own agenda: it’s been propping up the North-Korean regime for decades and continues to do so out of fear that an influx of millions of starving North Koreans might actually cross its borders once the Kim dynasty is eradicated.  France continues to indulge itself in its delusions of grandeur as a Super-Power and will not cease to do its own thing.

And so we will have to resign to the fact that the crazy little dictator will continue to subdue and starve his people until Judgement Day, or – at least – until the North Korean people will have had enough and give him the boot. Right now, however, this is something unimaginable considering the UNIlateral distribution of power in this Stalinist country.

The West – putting our moral sensitivities aside for a convenient moment – could pretend not to notice the suffering of the North Korean people. But, of course, we won’t, and will instead protest in the strongest possible diplomatic language against the violation of human rights in North Korea. In return, Pyongyang will threaten for the umpteenth time to revive its nuclear weapons program, which will prompt further concessions from the UN and its newly compliant member, the United States.

We’ll be investing billions of dollars in human and technological intelligence in order to trace attempts of Kim to proliferate nuclear weapons. And one day, we’ll be wondering where the materials for the dirty bomb that Islamists will have detonated in a major Western city might have come from. President Obama will be outraged, protest in the strongest possible terms (heard that before ?), send a single Cruise Missile into the barren backyards of Waziristan (Clinton re-loaded) and engage in multilateral talks with our “friends” in the UN.

Peace be upon you …

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123941001784910263.html