reviewing the UN...

[PTH]

tinyurl.com/adh2a
Anyone who reads French should check this out. (it's an article in the "Le Monde" newspaper)

Fascinating. Both France and the US have proposed plans, yet the American plan doesn't go nearly as far, only adding Japan and a developping country to the mix of the permanent members of the security council. France is proposing to add Brasil, Japan, Germany and India.

Given that the developping country in the US proposal would probably be Brasil or India, looks like the US wants to limit European weight in the UN. OTOH, Europeans must figure that Japan just about always follows the US lead, so in a way Japan is an added "US" vote.


Not saying that either proposal is better; I just find it interesting that the country complaining most widely about the need for UN reform is the one with the least ambitious plan.

[franko]

For years the US plan for UN reform has been "scrap it". USians feel that they pay the most and get the least (though I don't think they've actually paid in years) and that the UN has an anti-US bias (Carolyn Parrish echoing Euro and Arab thought) . . . so the fact that they propose any sort of actual reform surprises me.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

pth said:

tinyurl.com/adh2a
Anyone who reads French should check this out. (it's an article in the "Le Monde" newspaper)

Fascinating. Both France and the US have proposed plans, yet the American plan doesn't go nearly as far, only adding Japan and a developping country to the mix of the permanent members of the security council. France is proposing to add Brasil, Japan, Germany and India.

Given that the developping country in the US proposal would probably be Brasil or India, looks like the US wants to limit European weight in the UN. OTOH, Europeans must figure that Japan just about always follows the US lead, so in a way Japan is an added "US" vote.


Not saying that either proposal is better; I just find it interesting that the country complaining most widely about the need for UN reform is the one with the least ambitious plan.

WHY IS IT THAT WE HAVE TO SPEAK ENGLISH?"
A U.S. Ambassador was attending a UN conference that included ambassadors from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Governments. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a group of half dozen or so that included personnel from most of the countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a French ambassador suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.
He then asked:
"Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Ambassador replied:
"Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."

Lighten up. It's not serious. France is a little country on a little continent with small minded people. They hold a bicycle race in France and with only three people in all of the US riding bicycles, we win with regularity.