United...yeah, right.

I got into a conversation with my Father-In-Law about the United States position in the world relative to the UN. Both him and I came to the agreement that the UN is a joke. America is the long arm of the law so to speak, always the first to act directly whereas the UN tries sanctions and embargoes that rarely do much. Sure, the concept of a unified, United Nations front is a great thing...if it actually worked. The UN needs to be completely overhauled. It needs a governing body of representatives from each and every country with one vote apiece, and then it's own massive standing army. The UN Peacekeeping force should represent the mightiest army in the world because it is in the best interest of the "united nations" to have an army greater than what any single member can stand up to. This truly keeps the "peace".

Should nations like China or South Korea refuse to go along with what the other countries in the UN vote for, they must answer to whatever demands the UN council devises or face the wrath of the Peacekeeper force mobilizing and knocking said nations off their high horses. As it is, we (meaning the US) generally have to wait for the UN to take a stand or voice their opinion, or simply act because we know they will not. We generally bring our closest friends to the party (like England, Australia, Israel, etc.) and go into places like Afghanistan or Iraq and begin doing what must be done to provide global safety. However, this paints us in to a corner and forces us to be the world's sheriff.

People of nations we intrude into to do this work then in turn hate America sometimes because we are viewed as meddling and intrusive. Instead of that anger being directed at a united group of all the world's nations, America generally gets singled out as the main (and largest) protagonist. Why is it our job to be Team America: World Police? Shouldn't it be this governing body? If another nation invaded America and told us what type of government they were installing, how to live and what to believe, would we not be as upset and rebellious? Would we not rise up and count ourselves amongst the insurgent groups attempting to gain control back? Yet we do the things we do in places like Iraq and Vietnam when in reality it shouldn't just be "our" job.