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Article: The United Nations: Mr human rights. (failed post-cold war intervention policies)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- December 26, 1992
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE United Nations", says Marrack Goulding, the world's peacekeeper-in-chief, "can cajole, argue, bluster . . . but it cannot compel." Or rather, since the enforcement rules are ambiguous, it has nearly always chosen not to. No problem with this if cajoling, arguing and blustering are doing the trick; compulsion should plainly be a last resort. But is the system working?
As the year comes to an end, the high hopes that the world placed in the UN, as its post-cold-war policeman and do-gooder, have come tumbling to the ground. Its gentle way of doing things no longer looks good enough. Opinion is changing: armed intervention in the domestic affairs of another state no ...