| Speaker outlines UN actions, U.S. relationships |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Melissa Castor, Daily Vidette Reporter |
| Thursday, 19 November 2009 05:37 |
|
While in the past, the United States has had a more than an ambiguous relationship with the UN, senior advisor for the United Nations Foundation and ISU guest speaker explained why she felt the U.S. move to build a better relationship with the UN was a good one. Gillian Martin Sorenson began with her experiences with the UN and her general feelings toward the organization. “I would like to talk about the UN as the place where idealism and realism meet. The UN has grown overtime as the needs and demands grew, and today we have major, major departments. It is now a much larger, complex organization. It is a bureaucracy, but it is functioning in a very powerful away to address many issues going on in the world,” she said. Sorenson asked her audience why the United States should join the UN and in response to her own question explained that the United States has the capacity of leadership, it is a superpower and it is in our national interest. “We always gain by joining forces, by conveying to the rest of the world that we are there to cooperate … All of these problems are transnational; they circle the globe crossing borders without passport,” Sorenson said. Sorenson also identified that there were some fair criticisms that have been voiced, however, she claims many of them are not fair. She challenged students to consider the strengths of the UN agenda and not just its weaknesses. She asked for students to consider the UN’s work on arms, human rights, their humanitarian beliefs, work on the environment, and work on public health. “This is a global agenda if ever there was one. It matters to us. If we are a compassionate nation we should care if there are millions of people who are famished or have malnutrition that could easily be addressed. It is a ripe opportunity for the U.S. to contribute,” Sorenson said. The UN and United States relations have now turned a corner, according to Sorenson, with a “new era of engagement,” as stated by President Obama. In effect, he is saying the United States is back. Sorenson touched on some ways the United States is in fact making an effort to better its relationship with the UN including relieving its debt to the UN, rejoining the family planning program. “You could say the page has turned. We are in a new chapter of foreign relations … We are doing our best to rebuild our relationship with the UN. We are not adversaries, but to have a real relationship, the U.S. has to act, not just speak in ways that other countries can find credible and begin to rebuild our relationships,” Sorenson said. Among the crowd sat IWU senior political science major, Charlie Sell. “I think it’s really interesting to compare the different perceptions between the European nations and the U.S. No one else is in the position that we’re in. My interest in the UN does lie in the future. With the change in dynamics in the international system we can’t do without,” he said. |
