So China and Russia just
vetoed a UN Security Council resolution regarding sanctions against Syria for
the third time. Take a bow guys, you’ve achieved a hat trick! Looking at the
issue vetoed against, Mao and Stalin would be as proud as a mother whose son
has handed her his first paycheck. Or third. On a separate note, Assad’s
bloodstained regime has managed to do what decades of the communism brethren
couldn’t; it has aligned the two countries on something they apparently finally
agree on- not taking action against an absolutely brutal and oppressive
administration. Perhaps it reminds them a tad bit of their own history?
Perhaps not even history?
What the situation is: Born out of the Arab Spring, the Syrian
Uprising is an ongoing conflict between “leader” Bashar-Al-Assad and rebel
groups hoping to live their lives without watching their family members die.
Other noteworthy regimes collapsed thanks to the Arab Spring include Tunisia,
Libya and Egypt (the Pyramids were unharmed, relax travel agents. Other
Egyptian treasures? Not so much).
What the situation outside Syria (and inside
the UN) is: I can
sum it up in about a line- what the others want; China and Russia don’t i.e.
Assad’s departure. Some countries have cut ties with Syria, others are openly
supplying rebels with arms. Russia, Iran and China are Assad’s most important
allies at the moment, with Russia very openly supplying the Syrian government
with arms. The kicker? Even the Al Qaeda and its affiliates are anti-Assad. To
summarize my sentiments in a rather pathetic word- LOL.
Because I have realized my
love for lists, I’m going to compile noteworthy vetoes other P5 [those are the
5 permanent, veto-wielding members on the UNSC for those of you who i) don’t
read the news ii) have never done MUN iii) don’t read the news but have done MUN
as a country whose name nobody has heard of] nations have used-
-USA- on the Israeli military operations in Gaza, and the call for withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza strip and an end to the violence from both parties involved (definitely vetoed more than thrice, do take note)
-UK, USA, France (triple veto how terribly
exciting!!)- condemning the US invasion of Panama
Since, obviously, P5 has 5
nations and we’re looking at noteworthy (strictly according to me only) vetoes
by other P5 nations we’re left with only 3, so there you have it. USA’s list,
when expand, would take up an entire article by itself, so thanks but no
thanks.
The point of that fruitless
exercise was to simply demonstrate that countries other than Russia and China
have used their veto to further their own foreign policies as well. Both are,
in principle, opposed to the Arab Spring itself. Didn’t stop Tunisia, Egypt and
Libya’s regimes from toppling did it? Assad’s regime will topple, eventually,
if Machiavelli knew what he was talking about 499 years ago (and I believe he
did). Machiavelli stated a Prince (or government) should be feared but not to
the point of being hated, which is when it becomes very possible for the
opposition to topple him. Assad is going to go regardless of whether China and
Russia use their veto 3 more times or not, its just a matter of when. Unless
the USA get frustrated and decides to nuke them, in which case the world will end before
December 2012 anyway.
So what now? Unfortunately, a trip to the dentist. The UN, before it was the UN,
was known as the League of Nations. Back then during Hitler’s rise to power and
Mussolini’s colonization attempts everywhere, the League of Nations was a funny
thing. Smaller countries accused Britain and France (the USA wasn’t part of it)
of wielding too much power and steering LoN decisions according to their own
foreign policy. Cue a trip to the dentist, where the League of Nations went in
and the United Nations emerged, fully fitted with a new set of dentures. The UN
was top dog, it was the bomb, it was the world’s pocketful of sunshine. With
expanded membership, power was shared amongst many more members and became a
common platform for negotiations and discussions. Good for them, man. However,
now the UN seems no longer to be “top dog”. They’re in dire need of some new
dentures to strengthen their "bite". For my latest MUN our delegation was China’s (what fun!!). My two
very capable and extremely humorous delegates to the Security Council had
promised us they would veto whatever resolution tried to pass, much to the
frustration of every other nation in the room. When I look back, somehow I see
a similar situation playing out in the actual Chinese delegation (but they,
unlike us, saying it with an absolutely straight face). So yes, new dentures
are in order. The Security Council is flawed in the sense it is impossible to
take any comprehensive actions that affect the interests of any of the P5
nations involved. How absolutely irritating.
To sum it up, Assad will be
toppled, Machiavelli (like Bollywood) is always relevant, the world might end in 2012 and the UN
needs to visit a dentist (we recommend Dr. Wong on Orchard Road. Kidding,
he’s awful).
Apologies for posting this a
day and a half after the actual veto took place. If you want on-the-spot,
up-to-date news, follow Chap and me on twitter- @dem0crazies
-Lassie
(for sources of cartoons, look at "How Russia & China Scored Their Hattrick- Cartoons")
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