The UN Should Amount to Something

American surveillance is all-encompassing. It has now been revealed that the U.S. did not only eavesdrop on the personal phone calls of 35 foreign leaders, but it had also secretly set up listening stations in 90 embassies worldwide, including one in Kuala Lumpur.

Exactly on what does Obama want to eavesdrop? Are we all considered terrorists in the eyes of the Americans?

As I said last week, the more Edward Snowden reveals, the more obvious the conspiracy of the U.S. becomes: Eavesdropping on the world on a large scale is systematic and definitely not simply for the protection of national security or counterterrorism. Plainly stated, Uncle Sam’s true objective is to steal political and economic intelligence from each country.

The international community, the United Nations especially, should denounce Uncle Sam’s unscrupulous behavior and blatant disregard for international law. Regrettably, ever since the uncovering of the surveillance scandal in June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has yet to deliver any sort of response.

Although U.N. headquarters have also been monitored, U.N. spokesperson Martin Nesirky has given a response in the following vein: According to international law principles, diplomatic missions — including those of the United Nations — are inviolable, and all member states must abide by relevant international laws.

"I understand that the U.S. authorities have given assurances that United Nations communications are not and will not be monitored," Nesirky told reporters, without a hint of denunciation in his tone. This statement is truly disappointing.

The U.N. gives the impression that it is an international organization capable of solving the world’s major problems and keeping in check hegemony by the U.S. and other major powers. However, in reality, it is not. The U.S. controls the United Nations, which should be acting impartially.

Countries Should Contain US Hegemony Together

Germany and Brazil are intending to take the lead in pushing for a resolution to counter the far-reaching U.S. surveillance program, requesting that the protection of personal privacy extend to cyberspace: protecting all nations’ citizens’ right to Internet privacy, stopping large-area electronic surveillance plans, the collection of personal information and other privacy-breaching acts.

However, U.N. General Assembly resolutions have never been binding and are completely incapable of putting any sort of pressure on the United States. Because of this, Germany, Brazil and other nations will most likely be wasting their effort. The U.N. is helpless against U.S. hegemony.

As recent decades have shown, the U.N. seems to have been set up for no reason. This superpower, the United States, is the true leader of the world.

The world is not yours alone. It is the world’s world. All nations should work together to push for reforms that contain U.S. hegemony and let U.N. member states decide on the future, with each country holding one vote.

Last month, Saudi Arabia gave up its chance to be a nonpermanent member in the U.N. Security Council, criticizing how the U.N. held double standards when dealing with certain issues and that its five permanent members held the real power in their own hands. As long as one of them votes “no,” the voices and wishes of a majority of countries in the U.N. are repudiated. To how much can a U.N. like this amount?

It is time that the U.N. establish its authority through reforms and once again fulfill the purpose and role it should have.

After all, only with a strong United Nations, will there be a more righteous order.