this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2023
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Calls are growing for the UN Security Council to be reformed after the US became the only member to use its veto power to block a Gaza ceasefire resolution, a move welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The UN chief says he will keep pushing for peace.

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[–] spiderkle@lemmy.ca 52 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Nobody is surprised and that's a bad sign. The UN was invented to give the nations of our world a shared forum to talk things out and find a "resolution" before genociding each other. The thing is we can't expect the UN to stop conflict.

Edit: Some people seem to confuse the UN security council with the UN. The SC has only 15 members (5 permanent member nations, 10 rotating member nations) and is usually asked to vote on intervention once a resolution was passed. It can't act with a veto.

[–] crackajack@reddthat.com 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, this is something people don't quite understand. The UN primarily provides platform to initiate diplomatic discourse.

Even when there is demand to reform the UN to give it more power, most people will object because "'muh sovereignty".

[–] spiderkle@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

This is the point exactly. The UN is a voluntary forum for signatory nations to meet and talk shit out.

What some people think of instead is the UN security council made up of 5 permanent members (US, UK, France, China, Russia) and 10 rotating members (every two years) deciding on intervention in conflicts, but there can be no veto on resolutions. That's been a problem in the past, because rival nations just cancel each other out on some issues, making meaningful progress difficult.

People shouldn't blame the UN for initiating talks. We now know, 121 nations are in favor of a ceasefire, 44 abstained or are too afraid to take sides and only 14 veto'd it and wanna continue bombing, that sends a pretty clear message about what the majority of nations thinks should happen.

Instead blame the nuclear powers for not being able to talk to each other anymore, blame the radicals in any conflict. Don't blame the diplomacy.

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

If the UN was serious about promoting peace, they'd have occupied Gaza themselves over a decade ago.

This vote, like all votes, is political. It's not for some higher purpose