Cleaning up the UN in an age of U.S. hegemony : C.D. Howe Institute commentary

The Study in Brief Because of the overwhelming strength of the United States, less powerful countries often try to offset its influence by working within international institutions, with the United Nations being the forum of choice. [...] The organization’s inaction in the face of genocide, the antics of its Human Rights Commission and the oil-for-food scandal, have all sapped the UN’s authority. [...] Nor can the UN hope to exercise the influence it aspires to unless it addresses the security concerns of the country that hosts it and pays the largest share of its bills. [...] As the conventional phase of the war in Iraq proved, the U. S. can defeat its enemies on the other side of the globe in a blitzkrieg that claims a small proportion of its resources. [...] The U. S. itself supported and helped to write the Charter of the United Nations, as well as that of the League of Nations before it.