Thoughts About the United Nations

There is an interesting article in Foreign Policy magazine on the United Nations. It provides answers from a number of policy wonks on questions posed by FP. Here are the questions and my answers:

• THE U.N.'s BIGGEST MISTAKE IN THE PAST 10 YEARS HAS BEEN...it failure to protect human rights around the world, especially to prevent outbreaks of genocide.
• THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE U.N. IS... failure of people around the world to insist that their governments support the U.N. in its critically important mission.
• THE MOST IMPORTANT THING PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE U.N. IS...how much worse world history would have been over the past 60 years had there not been a U.N.
• THE BEST THING THE U.N. HAS EVER DONE IS...to have tamped down the potential for war  and conflict during a period which saw both the Cold War and the formation of new states from former colonies of empire.
• THE NEXT U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL SHOULD BE...elected by the member states following efforts by those of good will to encourage national governments to seek a Secretary-General who will effectively prosecute the mission of the United Nations.