The United Nations - and before that, the old League of Nations - was supposed to be the answer to world problems. Some people hoped that it would lead to some form of world government while others had more modest ambitions. Rather than resolving differences by way of war it was hoped that nations could argue their case before a world body - and accept it's findings.
That did happen - on a very few occasions. Mostly the United Nations split along ideological lines and divided into " blocks " which opposed one another as a matter of principle. It dissolved into a talk fest more interested in point scoring than taking action.
A recent event illustrates just what happens when a sovereign country runs out of options.
Michael Somare, the prime minister of Papua NewGuinea, was absent from his country for a long time while seeking urgent medical attention. The parliament decided to replace him, and appointed Peter O'Neill in his place. Michael Somare returned and took the matter to his country's Supreme court - which ruled that O'Neill's elevation was not legal and that Somare was still the legitimate prime minister.
This resulted in a " Mexican standoff ". The parliament backed O'Neill - and the Supreme court backed Somare. The two major institutions in this small, Pacific ocean country were in deadlock - and this resulted in a Colonel in the nation's defence force gathering his men and storming Taurama barracks and backing Somare.
No guns have been fired - and nobody has been killed and it seems likely that this whole mess will be peacefully resolved. There is talk of charges of treason and counter talk of pardons being issued, but so far no binding decision of which is the higher authority - the parliament or the Supreme court.
Surely this is precisely the type of problem that should have been settled by the world body ? What seems to be in doubt is the priority of the Papua NewGuinea constitution when such a challenge to authority arises - and that needs an independent arbitrator to hand down a decision.
In other parts of the world guns are being fired - and people are dying because of what amounts to civil war in some countries. The United Nations has intervened with a " peace keeping " force in some places, and in others action has been blocked by the stubborn refusal of those with " political objectives " to grant approval.
And here in our own backyard a situation similar to Papua NewGuinea continues to fester. The Islands of Fiji are now governed by a military junta. A military dictator has used the army to grab control - and civil liberties have been abolished - and this is a situation that the United Nations studiously ignores !
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