I just finished reading a transcript of the address President Trump gave to the UN General Assembly yesterday. If you are so inclined you can find it here.
I’m glad I read it rather than listening to it—it was nearly an hour long. I thought it was pretty much what I would have expected. A lot of blowing his own horn and exaggerations. A lot that was contentious, some of which I believe to have been false, some true.
Rather than fisking it, I’ll just ask some questions. First, what do you think of what he said?
Second, what do you think of the United Nations? I think that Jeanne Kirkpatrick’s characterization is even truer now than when she said it 40 years ago. The General Assembly is a “Third World debating society”. The Security Council is obsolete. At the very least four new permanent members should be added: China, India, Brazil, and Nigeria. That would make accomplishing anything through the Security Council even less likely than it is now.
Third, do you think the multiple SNAFUs were deliberate?
He is so self-obsessed it’s really hard to read. I couldn’t read the whole thing and I extend my condolences to those who were present. I agree some of what he said is factually correct, but then he also said stuff that is so obviously false I dont know why he would say them. If his goals were to either bore the hell out of people there or to insult those attending it was a success.
Steve
A debating society is better than war mongering. However, it would be better if the General Assembly could pass binding resolutions.
As to the SC, the permanent, veto-wielding members should include Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Consideration should be given to Egypt, Mexico, and Turkey.
China is already a member, having gotten the old Kuomintang seat.
In order for the UN to be anything more than a debating society, it has to have the ability to impose its will on its members. Only the US, Russia, China have the necessary military (personnel, armaments, ammunition, etc.), and only the US can project power worldwide.
The militaries of Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico, and Turkey are worthless, and combining them would only increase their worthlessness.
There will be no consequences for US, Russia, or China defying the will of the UN, and as such they do as they like without regard for anybody else. It is not right, but it is reality.
I don’t pay much attention anymore to what Trump says. There’s always something for someone to be outraged about (including often me). His superpower is that he can live rent-free in everyone’s minds and do so in a way that his shamelessness and hypocrisy never seem to affect him.
I’ve always said that actions matter much more than words. Trump says one thing one day, and the opposite or something tangential on another day. It generates news cycles of the Trump outrage du jour that are quickly forgotten when the next outrage du jour comes along. This UN speech will be one of those, I think. You can’t tell what he’s going to do based on the last thing he said; you have to look at what he’s actually doing, which is what matters IMO.
@Andy
Those are my sentiments, exactly.
bob sykes: A debating society is better than war mongering.
That’s right. And, so far, the United Nations has helped save “succeeding generations from the scourge of {world} war, which twice … brought untold sorrow to mankind”.