Tough love or tough hate

Austin Bay supports the nomination of John Bolton on the theory that the U.N. desperately needs to reform, and that Bolton has the spine and pugnacity to help reform it.
I support Bolton on a different theory. I don’t think the U.N. can meaningfully be reformed, or transformed into an organization that will help advance our interests. The U.N. inherently will reflect the traits of the states that comprise it. A critical mass of its members are corrupt thugocracies and/or dedicated anti-American states. Until this changes, and it won’t change anytime soon, the U.N. will be plagued by corruption, and largel unwilling to stand with us against tyrants and terrorists. In this environment, our interests lie in maximizing the extent to which the American public sees the U.N. for what it is. Bolton is the ideal ambassador for this purpose because he will push for a transformed U.N. (as Bay says) and call the U.N. out to the extent that it resists. President Bush should push like crazy for Bolton’s confirmation and, if that doesn’t work, should send up another no-nonsense nominee.

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