Friday, May 11, 2007

That Old U.N. Magic

The UN plans to name Zimbabwe head of the Commission on Sustainable Development. Western countries are "concerned". Samizdata is rolling on the floor laughing. Zimbabwe will get the position because it is rotated through a number of countries.

The UN can do little harm as long as it is universally understood that it operates according to the principles of magical realism. Unfortunately it often presented as the very fount of wisdom, capable of offering sound advice on climate change, economic development, human rights and nuclear proliferation when it is not always well qualified to do this.