But some good seems to be coming out of these talks now that US under Obama has recognised the importance of consensus-building again and drop its unilateralism which was the policy mantra under George Bush.
It was nice to hear Obama speak about the necessity of all nations pulling together to get out of the climate and economic mess. I specially liked his exhortation that countries which castigated US earlier for acting alone cannot now ask US to act alone to pull the world out of these messes. Good point. Obama seems to be getting the right vibes and responses and let us see what he can make out of this new honeymoon with the world.
The counter points to Obama were the speeches by Gaddaffi and Ahmedinijad. Gaddaffi in his rambling speech however highlighted the hypocrisy of United Nations being controlled by the Security Council which is a small club not really representing the world as it is today. His point about shifting UN itself to a more accessible place on the Globe needs some consideration. May be US would also be happy to be rid of UN at New York. I am sure the residents of New York would support such a move for UN, because then they would have less traffic/security hassles and could have the city streets for themselves.
Ahmedinijad's tirade against Israel could be dismissed but not his defence of Iran's right to develop nuclear technology. The US and a few Western countries should not have the monopoloy on nuclear technology and if any other country like Brazil or Iran wishes to develop nuclear technology then they should be allowed to do so. It is double-standard for US, Russia and China (even India and Israel) which have nuclear weapons (some developed overtly and some covertly as in the case of Isreal) to speak against other countries wishing to develop that technology for peaceful uses. Unless one approaches this with a degree of trust no agreement is possible. Isolation of any country will not work.
The other super meeting of the G20 at Pittsburg has decided that G20 would be the forum responsible for managing the world economy instead of the G8 (comprising of mostly West). Smart move, when the losses are now being socialised, to expand the responsibility for recovery and throw a smoke-screen over the culpability of the West for the economic mess they have brought to the world in the recent past. Hope it works fast.
Still the Bankers are a different, uncontrollable Beasts altogether and with so many ex-bankers in position of responsibility at Governmental level (especially in the US) the outcome is not very certain.
Why not integrate the G20 countries into an expanded UN Security Council which could be renamed Supreme Council with no veto rights for any one country, but 75% majority ruling required to pass all resolutions/actions ?
A lighter side-show to these meetings was the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key's appearance on the David Letterman Show where key plugged New Zealand unashamedly. Good on you mate.
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