Bolton Fights for Reform in the U.N.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Frederick Kempe writes about the success of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Counter to what Democrats would have had us believe, Bolton has been widely accepted by diplomats at the U.N. and has been an effective force in conveying the interests of the U.S. Bolton continues to push for much needed reforms that will introduce accountability and efficiency to the organization.

As part of reform efforts, the U.N. held a summit in September in which they endorsed a number of Bolton’s initiatives. “Unfortunately,” as Kempe writes, “developing countries thus far view U.S.-backed reform efforts more as an attack on their influence than a way to strengthen an organization overburdened by demands and deeply stung by the oil-for-food corruption scandal” and have thus responded with a “counteroffensive” to the recommendations.

Yet, with Bolton at the helm of diplomatic relations, it is quite possible reform efforts would not have come as far as they have. Just last week, the U.N. for the first time ever condemned the Islamic terrorist group Hizbullah for cross-border attacks on Israel. For an organization that has handed out more human rights criticisms to Israel than Iran, Iraq, China, and Cuba combined, this condemnation of Hizbullah was a huge step in the direction of more general reform.