John Bolton, the controversial US Ambassador to the UN Security Council is taking his turn as Council President, and he’s cracking the whip:
At Bolton’s order, the bell that calls envoys to the council’s meeting room rang precisely at 10 a.m. New York time today, a scheduled starting time rarely met, and Bolton later said he was alone in the room when he “brought the gavel down” at that time.
“I took a list of when they came in,” Bolton said, referring to his council colleagues. “I believe in discipline. Starting on time is a form of discipline.”
And of course, you know what happened next. They all rocked up at a quarter after 10.
It’s a trivial event, of course, but the whole affair has to bring into question John Bolton’s judgement. He simply doesn’t seem to recognise that the other members of the Security Council view it as a forum, a place for debate (however pointless that debate may be at times), and they expect to be treated as equals in that forum. Treating them as naughty schoolboys just winds them up into petulant furies, and distracts attention from the serious issues that they are actually there to debate.
Having said all that, here’s the irony:
The funny thing is, Bolton’s right. The UN is too prone to operate like a laid-back international coffee house. It hardly seems too much to ask that the 15 people responsible for global peace and security meet to discuss the subject each morning.
He is right. Just too stupid to know how to get his point across.
Actually, being late shows that you consider your time more important than others. It is a sign of selfishness.
I don’t blame Mr. Bolton for urging others to commit to their commitments.
It would be a nice change for the UN.