The Washington Post reports that rivals and harsh critics of the United States hold several key U.N. posts, posing a serious challenge to several of the Obama administration’s goals at the world body:
President Obama’s U.N. envoy, Susan E. Rice, has pledged to "refresh and renew American leadership" at the United Nations. But U.S. rivals with a long history of opposing American aims now hold some of the most influential posts at the world body, a testament to the diminished power of American diplomacy to shape the organization.
The General Assembly is headed by a leftist Nicaraguan priest, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, who routinely rails against the evils of American imperialism. Cuba chairs the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), an influential Third World political bloc. Libya serves on the Security Council and next year will preside over the 192-member General Assembly.
Even Iran and Sudan, which are subject to U.S.-backed U.N. sanctions, have made their way back to international respectability, securing leadership positions on the board of the United Nations’ top development agency and at the head of the Group of 77 and China, a group that coordinates social policies for Third World countries.
The alignment of these leaders has the potential to restrain U.S. ambitions to pursue initiatives, including stepping up international pressure on Sudan to stem the bloodshed in Darfur, strengthening U.N. oversight of its multibillion-dollar field operations and normalizing the United Nations’ relationship with Israel.
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