MIM Notes 187 June 1 1999

Yugoslav war machinations show United Nations is 
a figleaf

by a MIM Comrade

Serbian Slobodan Milosevic offered yet again to 
allow a peacekeeping force in Kosovo under the 
auspices of the UN. The NATO (North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization) led by the United $tates 
rejected the overture.(1)

As usual, the United $tates is fighting an 
illegal war. Even the toothless UN outlaws this 
war.

Milosevic prefers the UN peacekeepers to NATO 
peacekeepers, because the UN includes China and 
Russia. Those two countries are factors to be 
considered in the UN, because they have veto 
power on the Security Council of the UN.

Even so, the UN is a figleaf, for the simple 
reason that it has no power relative to 
imperialists. If the U.$. military forces were 
turned over to the UN, we would have to study 
the UN and reassess our opinion, but such is not 
meaningfully possible under the system of 
capitalism, when military forces exist to 
protect property rights and profit-systems above 
the humyn-"rights" to live.

According to Reuters, "Russia was the only 
country to vote against a U.N. resolution Friday 
condemning 'horrendous and ongoing war crimes' 
against ethnic Albanians by Serb forces in 
Kosovo. 

The 53-state U.N. human rights body, holding its 
annual session in Geneva, overwhelmingly adopted 
the resolution by a vote of 46 countries in 
favor. Six countries abstained."(2)

MIM is not saying Milosevic did not earn 
condemnation. Yet, even this condemnation the UN 
cannot back up with any force. Nor does the UN 
have a way of meaningfully condemning the United 
$tates for conducting an illegal war.

As it stands now, the most well-intentioned UN 
bureaucrats and diplomats are left in the 
position of being "clever." They seek to corral 
U.$. imperialism instead of dominating it, 
because they cannot dominate it since the UN has 
no actual military or economic power.

For its part, the U.$. imperialists find the UN 
useful as long as it does not have a military 
force. The reason is that the U.$. imperialists 
can use their leverage to get the UN as a 
figleaf for some U.$. military actions.

The UN consists of the bourgeoisie of all the 
world's countries. By trying to accommodate the 
United $tates in the UN, the Third World 
delegates poison the whole world against 
internationalism. They are teaching the masses 
of Iraq, Serbia etc. to distrust international 
bodies.

Bourgeois internationalism may seem more stable 
than bourgeois nationalism in its possibilities 
for global order, but bourgeois order of any 
kind is inherently unstable and bourgeois 
internationalism simply breeds its twin of 
bourgeois nationalism. Since the goals of 
capitalism are selfish, there is insufficient 
motivation to prevent alliances and political 
deals that lead to war for profit. 

Under socialism, we can have a proletarian 
equivalent of the United Nations. There can be a 
global internationalist authority while the 
planet recovers from imperialism. It will be 
difficult to get to communism or even global 
socialism, but there is no other choice for 
peace. For the various peoples to trust each 
other, it must be impossible to seek gain at the 
expense of another.

Notes:
1. Boston Globe 23 April 1999, p. 1.
2.http://nt.excite.com/news/r/990423/17/news-
yugoslavia