UNmade

Well, I'm back from a marvellous few days in Brussels, doing some very useful work and meeting some great people and engaging in very Belgian beer-drinking at rather too Irish a pace! So I think I'll need a few weeks of moderation in order to get myself back onto an even keel. Anyway, I'll post up a few thoughts on the visit at some stage. For the moment I thought I might point your way towards a very interesting article I came across in Monday's Financial Times (subs required), analysing the current state of the United Nations. It's a very good piece, so if you can get a hold of it do (or, if you're really interested, email me). The authors' basic line is that the UN has been given a remit by the great power(s) that it was never designed to fulfil and, in the circumstances, is doing rather well. That said, there is obvious need for reform, perhaps starting with giving the Secretary General some power to act, rather than tying his hands and then blaming him when nothing happens.

Speaking of which, I must post on the referendums at some stage: the EU as nation-states' whipping boy anyone?