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zepprith t1_j0jlzhg wrote

Reply to comment by lurq_king in Angelina Jolie bows out as envoy for U.N. refugee agency by Worldly_Pirate_9817

In the article it says she intends to work with local groups and her issue is the UN isn't doing enough to enforce the laws of war that forbid attacks against civilians.

Going on further that the UN tips in favor of power countries like Russia at the expensive of innocent people. So its more she doesn't want to be apart of a organization that just allows powerful countries to do whatever they want.

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Interesting_Total_98 t1_j0kdi8z wrote

The main purpose of the organization is for the most powerful nations to talk to each other. Kicking any of them out would go against this, but I get why she doesn't want to be a part of it.

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canada432 t1_j0llr2f wrote

This deserves repeating because people seem to have real difficulty grasping the concept. The UN is not a world government, it's not a police force, it's not an army. It's a diplomatic forum for discussion to prevent another world war. The UN isn't an exclusive club that people get kicked out of, it's a conference room where countries can talk.

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TotalChaosRush t1_j0lqmaw wrote

There's a bit of a disconnect. Most people are increasingly use to the rules of social media, where if you're calling for the death of a group of people you get banned. The UN however knows that "banning" someone with the authority to carry out their calls of violence doesn't prevent violence, it might actually encourage it.

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Nekaz t1_j0na9a3 wrote

Ye i vaguely seem to recalll something about the league of nations basically dying cuz they tried to "actually" do certain things the un doesnt and countries like the US were like "nah fam im out". Idk its been too long since high school.

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BleachOrchid t1_j0qrwaa wrote

Other way around, League of Nations was a gentleman’s agreement with no teeth. It was replaced with the United Nations which has the ability to impose sanctions. More importantly League of Nations required a unanimous vote to pass a decision, UN does not.

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carlitospig t1_j0mj4nr wrote

I feel like she should’ve understood this the first few years she was helping. The rest of us understood that the UN weren’t some benevolent angel organization.

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sector3011 t1_j0kierd wrote

Did Angelina Jolie somehow forget the US ignored the UN to invade Iraq? The UN has never been able to enforce laws of war nor was it founded with this intention.

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Jammyhobgoblin t1_j0kl23y wrote

I know it sounds silly, but watching the movie Hotel Rwanda (and subsequently looking into what happened) was what made me lose faith in the UN.

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rubywpnmaster t1_j0kr5uj wrote

And yet the UN has never declared the war illegal. Funny how that works.

You also have to keep in mind public sentiment of the UN at that time was pretty low. And the arguments that the invasion was legal are not completely without merit either.

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cchiu23 t1_j0kzz35 wrote

>And the arguments that the invasion was legal are not completely without merit either.

Citation needed

Also the UN hasn't done that with the russian invasion either (pretty sure there isn't really a legal mechanism to declar a war "illegal)

>And yet the UN has never declared the war illegal. Funny how that works.

That's the perk of being the most powerful country that the OP mentioned

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inconspiciousdude t1_j0lkagy wrote

>Citation needed

"I am the law" (Dredd et. al, 2134).

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rubywpnmaster t1_j0n43y1 wrote

I mean you make light of it but that’s basically how it works. The person with the most military and economic power basically has the ability to do just that.

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LeicaM6guy t1_j0ldza4 wrote

International Human Rights major checking in: one of the most depressing things about this subject is learning how toothless it can be.

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Souse-in-the-city t1_j0lcd2l wrote

How would the UN enforce these laws if local groups just tell them to fuck off?

What does she advocate?

Sanctions?

Military intervention akin to Kosovo?

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LeicaM6guy t1_j0m6474 wrote

It’s funny, because intervention worked in Kosovo (sorta, more or less) but the UN signed off on it only after the fact.

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AdventurousAd8436 t1_j0ndl9e wrote

Except the U.N. is not an enforcement agency. The U.N. doesn't "allow" any one to do anything, since it has zero authority.

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MadDjinn t1_j0k4fq0 wrote

So she’s finally gotten past the 14 yr olds ideological view of the UN?

Finally realizing it’s not actually a government nor a power that can do shit?

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zepprith t1_j0k4pr6 wrote

I mean it isn't a government but it can still be used as a forum to organize a response against a nation breaking international laws.

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threeleggedgirl t1_j0kat1t wrote

What do you do to better the world? You seem to have strong opinions about how other people do it.

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