Diplomatic diss

Last week, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and the United Nations' number two official, Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown, traded taunts over the United States' commitment to the organization. Both were right, but neither improved matters.\nThe scuffle started when Brown said that the United States uses the United Nations, while allowing its citizens to hold a negative view of the organization. Brown accused the U.S government of not doing enough to communicate the good the United Nations does to U.S. citizens. He said the United Nations' role was a "secret in Middle America" because the public discourse has been "abandoned to its [the United Nations'] loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and 'Fox News.'"\nHe's right of course. Most Americans don't understand how the United Nations works and what it does. Outlets like "Fox News" continually screech about the United Nations' failures, or at least what the U.S. government perceives to be its failures. There is lots of reporting on the Commission on Human rights (which, admittedly, is a joke). But there is little reporting about the World Health Organization, which is close to eradicating polio. It's true that the current administration doesn't promote the good works of the United Nations. It prefers to keep it as a whipping boy on which to blame foreign policy failures.\nThe fact that Brown's accusations ring true didn't stop Bolton from firing back. He said that Brown's remarks were a "very, very grave mistake," noting that the worst part of the speech was Brown's "condescending, patronizing tone about the American people."\nMuch as I hate to admit that Bolton is ever right, he's right. Brown was condescending towards Americans. His comments were a mistake, because, right or wrong, they will alienate the average American. Instead of creating good press for the United Nations, Brown just confirmed many Americans' worst suspicions: that the United Nations is run by profligate, whining people who hate America. \nAnd that's unfortunate. Americans should know more about the United Nations because it's an important tool of international diplomacy. It's far from perfect, but it performs many functions that no one else can or will -- a fact that the Bush Administration doesn't like to admit. The accuracy of Brown's comments, however, is completely lost because of how he presented them. Essentially calling Americans ignorant, and their government duplicitous, is not the way to change public opinion in the United States.\nNot that Bolton or the Bush administration are going to work to change public opinion. Note that Bolton didn't address the substance of Brown's remarks, merely their tone. \nWhile both men may have been right, this incident probably works out better for Bolton and the Bush Administration. It adds a bullet to their anti-U.N. arsenal, an arsenal that plays well with many American voters. Instead of creating an opportunity to educate Americans, Brown and Bolton have just created a silly fight that leaves both the United Nations and the United States worse off.