Clinton defends the U.N.: ‘If we didn’t have a United Nations, we’d have to invent one.’

Talkleft:


Earlier yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the Model U.N. Conference and offered a strong defense of the United Nations and the role it plays. The organization has long been a bogeyman of right-wing conspiracy theories, often championed by former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, frequently involving climate change policy and the “threat” of global governance (which is often confused with global government). In response, Clinton explained:

CLINTON: If we didn’t have a United Nations, we’d have to invent one. On issues like piracy or the H1N1 flu virus, we have to work together and we do so through organizations that are formed by, run by, or associated with the United Nations. That’s why it was important when the United Nations was created back in 1945 here in the U.S. that people admitted that we can’t solve all the problems on their own. No nation, even one as powerful as ours, is able to do that.

Clinton concluded by urging the conference attendees to learn to practice “smart power” during the Model U.N. process by “listening to the other side even if you think in the beginning they have nothing that you will agree with.”