#2 The first would be to move almost immediately from G8 to G10 by incorporating China and India. Within a decade, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa can also be invited.
I've argued ad nauseam for a coalition of the US and relevant Asian democratic powers, including India, Australia and Japan (along with Britain), to address threats in teh near and far east. The response to the tsunami disaster shows this de facto coalition in action. Add Israel and you have a serious, modern, responsible collective security organization that can and will project power across the region to diminish the threats of islamofascist-inspired chaos, Chinese expanisionism, piracy etc.
Admittedly I was wrong about Russia, but clearly an alternative to the UNSC is finally taking shape. Keep it moving forward. Extend and formalize it as soon as the tsunami work is finished. |
ADLAI STEVENSON once argued that a politician is a statesman who "approaches every question with an open mouth". If the performance of Jan Egeland, of the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is an indication, the same is true of those paid by the United Nations. A week ago, despite just one day having passed since the Asian tsunami, with the reported death toll one tenth of what it is now believed to be, and ignoring the fact that public holidays are never the easiest times to start organising an aid effort, Mr Egeland saw fit to dismiss the reaction of the international community as "stingy".