31.1.09

Limitations of the UN

I've been discussing elements surrounding the US military budget for more than a week now on SomethingAwful. It is a frustrating topic, and difficult to render into blog format for the most part. But I did write a bit on the limitations of the UN that I wanted to share:


(This was in response to the statement, "This is a bigger problem, but I can't think of many situations where you wouldn't be able to convince the UN to intervene, but should intervene yourself.")

I think that the genocide in Darfur was a clear example of a time where there was a mandate for international intervention. However, due to the lack of public support for the wars in the Middle East, the US waited for UN leadership that never materialized. Sudan is a symbol of the limitations of the UN system.

That analysis is based on several things: a historical perspective on the elements of past successful UN missions, the similar relationship between US involvement in Somalia and its lack of action in Rwanda, and a good understanding of the political events surrounding the tragedy in Darfur.

Successful UN missions (whether they be interventionary or merely health initiatives) have always relied upon strong leadership by one of the members of the Security Council. This is part of the system, primarily because attempting action without support of any of the world powers is a fool's errand. However, this limits the initiative of the body itself, and difficult decisions quickly become deadlocked without unilateral impetus by a first-world nation - often the US.

You could see this same situation play out in Rwanda in 1994. A growing crisis generated international outcry, but no UN action. The US had adopted an isolationist policy after Somalia, and no other nation was willing to take a leadership role in creating a coalition. The result was a confused and timid UN response to a genocide that ended only when the rebels drove off the murdering regime.

The response to the Darfur crisis was the same situation: the US has grown isolationist due to the lack of public support in the Iraq war, and limited its response to the political arena. Other nations deemed the situation too risky, and China / Russia actually gave arms to the Sudanese government that is decimating the population. Nothing happened, and the conflict has now escalated into the surrounding regions.

More generally, Sudan has seen civil war and genocide for the last 20 years, and the UN has done little more than ship in US-supplied food aid. Legal confusion, double-dealing and complicity, and cowardly support from the world community systematically mar UN missions. You can recognize the US' hesitation in putting more of its resources under UN control. The US has been pushing for UN managerial reform for years now, and its nonpayment of assays is part of that (despite which the US still shoulders the largest part of the UN's costs). Until those reforms go through, it will remain likely that tragedies like Rwanda and Sudan will continue.

21.1.09

Huffington Post Review


The Huffington Post considers itself to be an Internet newspaper, and in many ways this seems to be a good description of its content. It has a centerpiece front page, with an important news story featured prominently so that all viewers will read it. It has different sections that focus on different kinds of news, like the Politics, Entertainment or Style sections. There are style palettes, standardized formatting, and the other trappings of a regulated news source. The site even has the same type of in-body ads that support print newspapers.

But there is much more to the site than merely being an electronic version of a common print newspaper. It is filled with multimedia - photos, slide shows and videos dominate the website - as well as a host of other web devices. Links, RSS feeds, search functions and menus can be found on all of the pages - nearly overwhelming the reader with their potential functionality.

Interestingly enough, there is also plenty of content that is not produced by the Huffington Post staff at all. It is also something of a public forum. There are extensive user blogs (some are even featured via the editorial sections!) comment sections, where registered users can post their reactions to news stories (though they are unfortunately limited in their ability to interact with each other rather than the original story). There are also links to content produced by other news organizations, such as this CNN video, plenty of AP photos, or even links off the site altogether.

However, while this visual vibrancy is refreshing after the staidness of the standard print newspaper, there are also some truly bizarre parts of the website that don't seem to work well. The mass variety of content is incredible, but it also makes for a confusing diversity in tone. Some of the stories are serious, considered news pieces, others are entertaining puff pieces, while others are satirical and should not be taken seriously. Without clear and obvious indications of which is which it can become a difficult and confusing way to look at news.

So in summation, while the Huffington Post website does appear to be a good one, it also seems to have some room to grow. The Wikipedia-esque level of cross-linking and depth in the site is fun and engaging (there must be six different ways to find a specific story, each good in its own way), but much of the functionality is poorly explained (if at all). And while it is good to have a news source that is willing to show its readers more than the small amount of information that its staff can produce, the multiplicity of sources can also prove quite confusing.

After perusing the website for this class review, I plan to continue coming back and using the site for my own news needs. However, I probably won't be recommending the site to my less computer-literate friends and family. The site's functionality (such as its openness to Google Reader and other aggregate generators) is fantastic, but it also seems to get in the way of readability.

11.1.09

Legend of Zelda Solo/Quintet

The last part (hopefully) of my 'YouTube videos with little or no explanation' trilogy.