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This is largely unrelated, since nobody has actually expressed the forementioned attitude, but I keep running into the inexplicable belief that the UN “has powe

This is largely unrelated, since nobody has actually expressed the forementioned attitude, but I keep running into the inexplicable belief that the UN “has power” or “can do things”. The UN has no power. The UN can do nothing. When a state with power does something, you don’t find out about it from a press release. You find out about it from 48 point headlines from CNN or the New York Times, then one of their representatives issues a smirking nondenial, or tweets a picture of their country’s flag. There is one single source of truth in the UN, and that’s Security Council resolutions, and nothing else matters. If the OHCHR had power, they would simply walk into the jail, then walk out with Assange. But they don’t, so they issue a press release instead, and nothing at all will change. Remember when the UN HRW called the lead content in Flint's water a "human rights concern, that would not have happened if Flint was well-off or overwhelmingly white."? What are the lead levels in Flint water today? Anyone know? Remember when the UN CAT criticized police brutality in Ferguson? Any Ferguson cops get prosecuted in UN courts for that crackdown? No?

xkemp 7y ago
"Power" can be tanks and submarines. It can be the gavel of a Supreme Court judge. Or it can be the position of a UN High Representative. Just by being quoted in the papers and us discussing his views, he has power. Sure, it's "soft power" because he cannot force anything on anyone (except maybe a small staff). But that's the sort of soft power that won the Cold War: getting people to do what you want with no carrots nor sticks, simply by making them share your goals. The UN also has very specific powers: they runs dozens of agencies, some of which (like UNHCR) have thousands of people working on-the-ground. They are operating refugee camps with millions of people, co-ordinating the response to that Virus in China, and deciding who gets which international calling code.

xkemp 7y ago

"Power" can be tanks and submarines. It can be the gavel of a Supreme Court judge. Or it can be the position of a UN High Representative. Just by being quoted in the papers and us discussing his views, he has power. Sure, it's "soft power" because he cannot force anything on anyone (except maybe a small staff). But that's the sort of soft power that won the Cold War: getting people to do what you want with no carrots nor sticks, simply by making them share your goals. The UN also has very specific powers: they runs dozens of agencies, some of which (like UNHCR) have thousands of people working on-the-ground. They are operating refugee camps with millions of people, co-ordinating the response to that Virus in China, and deciding who gets which international calling code.