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Kofi Annan Prevents the UN From Saying a Word About Tibet
From Global Policy Forum, an article by Celine Nahory.The veto has always loomed over the work of the UN Security Council. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union often brandished their prerogative publicly in Council meetings. Overall, the five permanent members [the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia = P5] cast 199 vetoes between 1946 and 1989 - well over four per year - preventing the Council from taking action on many important matters. Since the end of the Cold War, however, the formal use of the veto has diminished dramatically. Between January 1990 and March 2004, the Permanent Five (P5) cast 17 vetoes - only about one per year. In spite of this new appearance of restraint, the P5 continue to pressure the Security Council through a "hidden" veto - the quiet threat of possible veto use. As Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica put it, "the mere presence of the threat of the veto ⊠determines the way the Council conducts its business." Permanent members use the hidden veto mainly in closed-door informal consultations, rather than in official open meetings. Since the late 1980s, the Council largely conducts its business in such private sessions. Away from the public and without any record of what has been said, the P5 have more freedom to pressure, threaten, and even bully other members of the Council. By giving private veto warnings before a vote takes place, the P5 can "convince" Council members to shift their position and still persuade the international public of their good intentions. Posted by: MIke Sylwester 2004-09-30 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=44643 |