Muslim Majority Nations Consensus: A More Robust UN With Expanded Power
A recent poll found that Muslim majority nations want a more independent United Nations with more extensive power, less dominated by the US, and more active in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perhaps this means the beginning, with Obama administration support, of a journey to a more stable Middle East and Asia. From IPS News: "The survey was conducted in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories and Azerbaijan. Nigeria, which has a 50 percent Muslim population, was also polled. "The survey found conflicted attitudes towards the United Nations. There was, however, clear support for a U.N. with much broader powers than it has today. Asked about a number of options for giving the U.N. greater powers, nearly all received strong support. "Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, told IPS: 'If we compare the results in Muslim-dominated countries to those in other regions, there is virtually consensus around the world on giving the U.N. more powers. This consensus is rather striking.; "While many people in Muslim countries express disappointment with the U.N., this actually masks their underlying desire for a U.N. that is robust and powerful," Kull said. "An average of 64 percent of the people polled in all nations favoured the U.N. Security Council having its own standing peacekeeping force. "In all but one nation, the most common view was that the "U.S. basically controls the U.N. and can almost always make the U.N. do what the U.S. wants", as opposed to the view that "through its veto the U.S. can stop the U.N. from doing things, but the U.S. cannot make the U.N. do things the U.S. wants." "The view of the U.N. as controlled by the United States was endorsed by 68 percent of Egyptians, 63 percent of Palestinians, 59 percent of Jordanians, and 53 percent of Turks. In Indonesia, 43 percent agree, while 13 percent said the U.S. can only stop the U.N. from doing things (44 percent did not answer). The only exception was Azerbaijan, where a plurality said the U.S. can stop the U.N. from acting, but cannot make it do what the U.S. wants (49 percent to 36 percent). "Respondents were also asked to assess a variety of U.N. efforts, rating them on a scale from zero, meaning "not all helpful", to 10, meaning "extremely helpful." Ratings were generally lukewarm at best, WorldPublicOpinion.org said. "The lowest ratings were for U.N. efforts "to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict." The mean response was 3.7 with the lowest ratings coming from Jordanians (2.5) and Palestinians (2.6). Only Azerbaijanis were above 5 (5.3). Low ratings of U.N. performance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict are highly correlated with the perception that the U.S. controls the U.N. "Kull told IPS: 'People would like the U.N. to resolve the problems. They are disappointed that it has not occurred.' " |
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