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And
If the UN. . .
I am a New Yorker, but have also
traveled the world extensively, and feel
my concerns echo those of people both
here and abroad.
Speaking bluntly, the United Nations should
and must take bolder steps to influence
member countries whose governments do
little for their people while amassing
wealth and fostering corruption, etc.
This is the ultimate challenge for the
United Nations, and one that is especially
frustrating as entrenched diplomatic bureaucracies
see little reason to "rock the boat"
beyond token gestures. It's
clear that the ongoing juggling act of
balancing the desires of diverse blocs,
ideologies and let's not forget multinational
corporate pressures is daunting.
But the United Nations must begin these
so called bolder steps somewhere and I
believe that an area which could bring
many dividends later on is some sort of
mechanism forcing countries to reduce
their obscene levels of military spending
and to reduce the massive military aid
packages that seem to be such important
aspects of global trade.
In order to achieve this, the United Nations
must become tough and impose the following
stipulations in order for a country to
remain a member *
Member countries must over time shrink
their military budgets until they spend
just 2% of their budgets on defense and
only for defensive purposes that are approved
internationally Military exports must
be divulged and reduced over time (by
quantifiable percentages) by each member
country.
Each country must send and help to finance
troops for an international army that
can do more than stand by and permit "business
as usual"in rogue countries.
Countries sign a pledge that they will
NEVER send foreign aid to a country that
spends more than 2% of budget on defense.
All monies formerly spent by these countries
for military purposes must go to improve
food production, health and education
and shelter. Aid to export-oriented
industries would NOT be permitted.
*And countries that trade with countries
that do not adhere to these rules would
also somehow be penalized...
AND IF THE United Nations could begin
to make a dent in the above; it should
also decree that no country could be a
member of the United Nations, under the
new legislations, without an internationally
verified election.
Mark
Kline
New York, NY
Concerned global citizen and international
incentive and meeting planner
E-mail: vog@mindspring.com
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