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CIAO DATE: 04/05/07
Troubled Marriage: The United States and the UN
Interview with Ambassador William H. Luers
The United Nations. No other organization better symbolizes global cooperation and shared values than the sixty-nine year old institution headquartered on the eastern shore of Manhattan. Consequently, as rifts have opened on global questions of peace and security, doubts have arisen about the effectiveness of the United Nations. Many in the United States and specifically the second Bush administration remain unconvinced as to the UN’s ability to successfully address pressing security questions. Circumstances in Iraq, Iran, and Darfur have exacerbated underlying tensions, making the relationship between the United States and the UN a rocky one of late. The Journal spoke with Ambassador William Luers, the head of the United Nations Association of the United States, to discuss the UN’s strengths, weaknesses, and role in the twenty-first century.
GJIA: Are discussions concerning the relevance of the UN that took place before the war in Iraq over? Or is this a challenge that should be discussed on an ongoing basis?
LUERS: That discussion is probably over for the time being. But I think it raises a far more serious question about the role of the UN. The UN’s relevance is unquestionable in so many different areas. What needs to be determined is how the UN can play a meaningful role in this increasingly complex environment in which two issues, humanitarian intervention and combat ing terrorism, especially with regards to weapons of mass destruction, have become such dominant themes.
First, the Secretary General is a believer in humanitarian intervention, which involves some type of political—or even military—intervention in cases of geno cide or when leaders perpetrate particularly heinous crimes, such as the cases of Rwanda or Saddam Hussein. Second, President Bush’s justifiable obsession with the issues of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction has sparked a debate about whether a valid basis exists to take urgent action to authorize military force to head this off.
In the context of these two issues, how does the UN get itself reorganized? How can we start thinking differently about the UN? How can we define its role in maintaining international peace and security?
GJIA: The UN Charter is explicitly rooted in the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. How does one reconcile this with the increasing role of non-state actors in terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction? Do you feel that this heightens the relevance of the UN through the needs for increased cooperation between state actors?
LUERS: Almost by definition the threats today to sovereign states come from nonsovereign actors. This argues for greater coherency and collaboration among states, all of which have a common con cern about these threats, though to varying degrees.
Another way the UN responds to these non-state threats is by focusing on individual rights and the growth of civil soci ety throughout the world. This is becom ing an increasingly important component of the UN’s mission.
GJIA: How can the UN avoid the perception of U.S. preponderance in directing the actions of the organization, particu larly in the context of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction? Or is this unavoidable?
LUERS: The UN faces a paradox, as you pointed out. Without U.S. power, support, financial backing, and general endorsement, the UN is ineffective. But since the UN is a universal organization, this raises the question of how to balance U.S. interests with the interests of all the other member states.
The issue out there as the UN looks to reform is the U.S. concern that the UN’s basic interest now is to restrain American power. The nations of the world are encouraging the United States to abide by certain rules in its pursuit of security, particularly when it involves the use of force. That tension exists now, and it has always existed. I think it is more profound today under this president than it has been in any other moment since the organization was founded.
William H. Luers is President and CEO of the United Nations Association of the Unit ed States of America. He served as Ambassador to Czechoslavakia and Italy.