U.N. Considers Proposals to Reform U.S.-Dominated Security Council

Interview with James Paul, executive director of the Global Policy Forum, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

For more than a month, the U.S. news media has been focused on allegations of corruption at the United Nation's-run oil for food program that operated in Iraq from 1996 until the U.S. invasion in 2003. An investigation is being conducted by the U. N. itself, while several committees in the U.S. Congress are also examining evidence of mismanagement and fraud that reportedly funneled billions of dollars to Saddam Hussein.

That story has largely overshadowed a set of important recommendations made for reforming the United Nations put forward in early December by a committee appointed by embattled U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. The world body has seen significant geo-political changes since its founding after World War II, which are not reflected in its current structure. One of the key recommendations is to expand membership of the powerful U.N. Security Council, which sets aside only five permanent seats for the U.S., Russia, Great Britain, France and China, with a rotating group of ten additional members.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with James Paul, executive director of the Global Policy Forum with its office near the UN in New York City. The group's mission is to monitor policy making at the United Nations, promote accountability of global decisions, educate and mobilize for global citizen participation, and promote issues vital to international peace and justice. Paul discusses the need for reform to strengthen the world body, not weaken it as many conservatives in the US are advocating.

Contact the Global Policy Forum at (212) 557-3161 or visit the group's website at www.globalpolicy.org

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