The first-ever refugee summit at the UN was long on rhetoric and short on action. Further, it was far too Eurocentric and ignored countries that really have taken in the largest number of refugees.
1There was always deep concern among some segments of the Iranian society that the West would not live up to its part of the bargain in the nuclear deal with Iran. A year after the deal was signed has confirmed the skeptics’ worst fears.
1Kashmiris are again being targeted by one of the most ruthless regimes in the world. The Indian occupation troops have introduced a new weapon this time: pellet guns that spray hundreds of steel-tipped bullets that have blinded hundreds of people.
1The UN has finally mustered the courage to establish an Inquiry Commission into Israeli war crimes during its onslaught on Gaza in July/August 2014. The Inquiry Commission announced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today will comprise five members. The UN chief had visited Gaza last month and come away visibly shaken after witnessing Israel's destruction of civilian infrastructure including UN buildings.
It is widely argued that the United Nations is needed for the promotion of international peace and security, as well as for the protection of human rights and the advancement of human development worldwide. But it is also widely held that the UN is unequal to its tasks, mainly because a few powerful states have a monopoly over its decisions and control the selection and functions of its secretary general and other officials. It is not, therefore, surprising that it is those very countries, led by the US, which oppose every attempt to improve the functions, procedures and powers of the UN and its various officials and agencies. Worldwide attention on these fault lines was focused by the appointment of the foreign minister of South Korea (which is a close ally of the US) as secretary general to succeed Kofi Annan, whose term of office ends in December.
