#UN veto powers

[immaculatasknight]

The slow progress of justice

[birdemic]

we have to stop letting the usa have such control/influence over international politics

[argentinagp]

there is nothing i hate more about us citizens than when they think they can talk high and mighty ab cuba

[claraameliapond]

A perfect character profile of America in their international relations : "The Americans always wanted to treat Latin America as their backyard..... But, the intermeddling of America is ever present.

Now when you don't obey America, they want to ensure that you fail...and they are quite good at that. " Professor PLO Lumbaba

This is their attitude and approach in all international relationships. Everyone has to walk on eggshells lest they anger the 'big bad'. It's the same attitude that gives them the arrogance to very openly now veto a ceasefire of a genocide, openly support a genocide. Help and supply that genocide of genuinely innocent people. On the world stage, they're not even hiding the fact anymore that they want a foothold in that area of the world, that they have profit interests there - hello oil. And they apparently think they're powerful enough that everyone else will just let them. Their inflated ego has intentionally wroght havoc and killed children, women, men, people who are innocent, civilians in many places and especially right now in Palestine.

This action is all taking far too long to just halt it, ceasefire, let alone decolonise Palestine, but we have had proof that some of the rules which govern the UN for example, the UN security council, don't work and aren't effective in the crises they were created for. We have proof that full veto power cannot exist , especially in the case where vested interests lie; we are realising that it must instead be a majority vote, not one negative vote vetos the entire situation. Globally, the world is realising we need to take back our power and ensure UN security councils, for example, are based on equality and practical application, instead of allowing members to act as if they have supreme power over everyone else for the pursuit of their own vested interests.

[news4dzhozhar]

That was quite the Freudian slip there at the end. Did you catch it? He accidentally called the US "Israel"

[pixiesnooze]

every day i go to bed praying like begging that surely i will woke up tomorrow and there will be sanctions enacted for israel to retreat to stop their bombardment of human life but no instead i wake up to more war crimes being committed each day each crime more insidious than the last

[sayruq]

The U.S. will use its veto power against a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a member state of the United Nations during a vote at the Security Council expected to take place Thursday evening. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, described as premature an effort by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to gain member status at the U.N. He said there was not unanimity among the Security Council’s 15 members that the Palestinian Authority had met the criteria for membership, with unresolved questions over the governance of the Gaza Strip, where Israel is in a war to defeat and eliminate the controlling power, Hamas. “And for that reason, the United States is voting no on this proposed Security Council resolution,” Patel said.

Earlier it was revealed that the United States was secretly pressuring other members of the Security Council to shoot down a Palestinian state membership so the US wouldn't have to use its veto as that would lead to a wave of local and international criticism for Joe Biden.

[chemical-killjoy]

The UN Needs To Change.

WOAH WOAH WOAH hold the FUCK. UP. I mean I knew the UN was a little fucked up, but there's veto power?

OK first of all, I'm mad I was never taught any of this in school. We need to learn about what's going on in other countries (not just western world ones or major powers) today and also their history. Not just ancient greece, rome and egypt, and our own countries as told by the victors. It's fucking important and I feel so stupid having to learn about this myself by researching at 20 years old. But I'm going down the rabbit hole so I know these things and hopefully (if this isn't too much of an essay) you guys will know too if you don't.

The UN has this thing called veto power. It's where the five major powers (the UK, USA, France, China and at the time the USSR, now Russia) have the right to reject an application without needing to have the major rule of the council.

Simply? If one of the Big Boys™️ says "I don't agree with you guys, even if you're all against me" they can still get the final decision to approve or reject whatever the council was voting on.

Also, these countries are what are called "Permanent Member states" on the 15-member security council, which means they cannot be kicked from the council, even after there 2 year term is up. Sounding rigged, huh? Let's not forget this setup hasn't changed much since 1946.

They can also choose to not veto things, and just not vote instead (abstain), and like most democracies (if you can call this such) if 9/15 vote for something, majority rules... But of the 10 non-permanent members, five are elected by the General Assembly each year (though they have a 2 year term, it's non-consecutive). But at least there are rules for this, with representation? The council has to be made up of: 5 members from African and Asian States, 1 from Eastern European States, 2 from Latin American States, 2 from Western European and other States... I don't know how I feel about these numbers tbh, especially considering that's not counting the Big 5.

(For anyone wondering this year's security council is Albania, Brazil, China, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States)

Let's take a look at the number of times the big 5 have used their veto power:

At least France and the UK have told their mates it's not nice to use it that much. Because that really helps.

(Quick side note, YES, Russia has used their veto power regarding them grossly brutalizing Ukraine).

You want to know what else stood out to me? So there are 193 member states in the UN. There are 195 (recognised) countries in the world... So which 2 aren't part of the UN? The Vatican City and the State of Palestine.... I.... Yeah, I don't even have a response for that. Things need to change.

Look, the idea behind the UN is great. A peace keeping assembly made up of as many countries in the world as possible. It does help sometimes. But it needs one hell of an update, because this shit just can't continue.

Here's some links to where I got my info.

The UN veto voting system

Bloody important page with a ton of info and links

Countries in the UN

Even more important article (where I got the graph)

[zvaigzdelasas]

South Africa’s genocide case has put the spotlight on a deeper fault line in global geopolitics. Beyond the courtroom drama, experts say divisions over the war in Gaza symbolize a widening gap between Israel and its traditional Western allies, notably the United States and Europe, and a group of nations known as the Global South — countries located primarily in the southern hemisphere, often characterized by lower income levels and developing economies.

Reactions from the Global North to the ICJ case have been mixed. While some nations have maintained a cautious diplomatic stance, others, particularly Israel’s staunchest allies in the West, have criticized South Africa’s move.

The US has stood by Israel through the war by continuing to ship arms to it, opposing a ceasefire, and vetoing many UN Security Council resolutions that aimed to bring a halt to the fighting. The Biden administration has rubbished the claim that Israel is committing genocide as “meritless,” while the UK has refused to back South Africa.[...]

As a nation whose history is rooted in overcoming apartheid, South Africa’s move carries symbolic weight that has resonated with other nations in the developing world, many of whom have faced the burden of oppression and colonialism from Western powers.

Nelson Mandela, the face of the anti-apartheid movement, was a staunch supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leader Yasser Arafat, saying in 1990: “We align ourselves with the PLO because, akin to our struggle, they advocate for the right of self-determination.”

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that while South Africa’s case is a continuation of its long-standing pro-Palestinian sympathies, the countries that have rallied behind it show deeper frustrations by the Global South.

There is “a clear geopolitical context in which many countries from the Global South have been increasingly critical over what they see as a lack of Western pressure on Israel to prevent such a large-scale loss of life in Gaza and its double standards when it comes to international law,” Lovatt told CNN.

Much of the non-Western world opposes the war in Gaza; China has joined the 22-member Arab League in calling for a ceasefire, while several Latin American nations have expelled Israeli diplomats in protest, and several Asian and African countries have joined Muslim and Arab nations in backing South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ.

For many in the developing world, the ICJ case has become a focal point for questioning the moral authority of the West and what is seen as the hypocrisy of the world’s most powerful nations and their unwillingness to hold Israel to account. [...]

Israel sided with the West against Soviet-backed Arab regimes during the Cold War, and Western countries largely view it “as a fellow member of the liberal democratic club,” he added.[...]

“But the strong support of Western governments is increasingly at odds with the attitudes of Western publics which continue to shift away from Israel,” Lovatt said.

Israel has framed the war in Gaza as a clash of civilizations where it is acting as the guardian of Western values that it says are facing an existential threat.

“This war is a war that is not only between Israel and Hamas,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog told MSNBC in December. “It’s a war that is intended – really, truly – to save Western civilization, to save the values of Western civilization.”

So far, no Western countries have supported South Africa’s case against Israel.

Among Western states, Germany has been one of the most vocal supporters of Israel’s campaign in Gaza. The German government has said it “expressly rejects” allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that it plans to intervene as a third party on its behalf at the ICJ.

An opinion poll by German broadcaster ZDF this week however found that 61% of Germans do not consider Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip as justified in light of the civilian casualties. Only 25% voiced support for Israel’s offensive.

But it is in Germany’s former colonial territory, Namibia, that it has attracted the fiercest criticism.

The Namibian President Hage Geingob in a statement on Saturday chided Berlin’s decision to reject the ICJ case, accusing it of committing “the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions.” The statement added that the German government had not yet fully atoned for the killings.

Bangladesh, where up to three million people were killed during the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in the 1970s, has gone a step further to file a declaration of intervention in the ICJ case to back South Africa’s claims, according to the Dhaka Tribune.

A declaration of intervention allows a state that is not party to the proceedings to present its observations to the court.

“With Germany siding with Israel, and Bangladesh and Namibia backing South Africa at the ICJ, the geopolitical divide between the Global South and the West appears to be deepening,” Lovatt said.

Traditionally, the West has wielded significant influence in international affairs, but South Africa’s move signals a growing assertiveness among Global South nations that threatens the status quo, says Adekoya.

“One clear pattern emerging is that the old Western-dominated order is increasingly being challenged, a situation likely to only further intensify as the West loses its once unassailably dominant economic position,” Adekoya said.

19 Jan 24

[fairuzfan]

The UN is a fucking joke. None of these world systems are meant to protect anyone. Who the fuck let a handful of countries basically control the vote through vetoes. What's the fucking point if these countries have unlimited power. It's just a way for the world powers to maintain another level of control. I cannot understand the inhumanity of these people.

[immaculatasknight]

Leashing in the hegemon

[blorbocedes]

one thing the US is gonna do at the UN Security Council is veto anything resembling human rights 🤪✌️on behalf of the bestieeeeee. like they don't even want the hostages back cause they need more Palestinian blood to be spilled it's honestly so batshit. And this is the US voting on behalf of its closest mid east ally, for whom it constantly flexes its veto power to overturn condemnations and criticism

kwame ture put it best ^

[i-am-aprl]

The Malaysian spokesperson at the UN says that the Veto power in the UN needs to be abolished as it takes away from a true democracy within the organization.

[homoquartz]

if you're not keeping an eye on gaza because it's too much for you, i wanna summarize some stuff. the most important things to know right now:

1. Israel has pushed lies about the scale and nature of attacks against them. Biden LIED to the press about watching beheading videos; these videos don't exist. edit: i am referring specifically to beheaded infant videos

2. Israel has lied to Palestinian civilians in order to move them INTO active bombing zones

3. 50% of Palestinians are children

4. Israel has closed all routes into and out of Gaza, and no aid can come to civilians who have no access to water, food, electricity, or medical supplies. edit: as of 10/22, some aid is being allowed in. this does not negate the weeks where it was not allowed, nor the war crime of collective punishment. Hospitals continue to lose power.

5. Israel has full support from Biden's administration

6. Israel's leaders have stated publicly that they hold all Palestinians (including, EXPLICITLY, children) responsible for Hamas's actions. source 1, source 2

EDIT: 7. The UN has called for cease-fire, but the United States continues to veto. More aid cannot make it to those in need without a cease-fire

EDIT: 8. 10/27 Hamas has offered to release all civilian hostages if Israel stops air strikes. Israel refuses.

[aristotels]

look imma say this and then im gonna go do something productive bc this is taking up way too much of time.

do i think usamericans are inherently stupid or evil? no, i dont. i dont believe you are any less capable or dumber than the other people in the world. i do, however, think you have more responsibilities.

does it matter if a brazilian doesnt know where croatia is? not really. brazil doesnt have monopoly on world production or currency. brazil didnt instigate the fall of yugoslavia. brazil cant veto an un resolution. does it matter if a dalmatian grandma raising donkeys in vrlika doesnt know where laos is? not particularly; she doesnt vote for a president who has power to influence the global politics. croatian president cant stage a coup in venezuela. balkan countries dont dominate social or political discourse, they dont dictate economy, trends, or inflation. they dont dominate media, films, music, culture, language.

usa however does. the president of the usa has very real power to fund a genocide and single-handedly keep an apartheid existing. people from usa should know the effects their choices have.

imperialism isnt only visible in politics either. cultural hegemony is a huge part of it. oscars, online algorithms, social media, language - these all have influence on the rest of the world. the ways other countries are viewed in the usa is important. its REALLY not about "haha stupid usamericans", its about responsibility you have as a part of imperial core.

and before anyone goes like "wHy ArE yOu NoT cALLiNg OuT wEsTeRn EuRoPe" its not what this particular discourse is about. ive talked about it before. ill talk about it again because germany has more effect on my life than the usa. pls stop deflecting responsibility this way

edit: no this does not mean "please vote for genocide joe" it means the opposite holy shit this is the core reason for this entire fucking globegate or whatever. if youre voting for dems bc theyre "lesser evil" pls learn where palestine is and that to them there is NO lesser evil jesus christ biden is literally bypassing congress and vetoing un resolutions and sending billions of dollars and weapons and missiles to kill children on the other side of the planet. youre all insane if "vote blue" was your takeaway from this post

[the-bibrarian]

If the US didn’t use their veto there would already have been 2 successful UN Security Council votes for a ceasefire, with actual powers to enforce it.

Just so we’re clear on who is funding, aiding and enabling the killing of thousands upon thousands of civilians in Palestine.