116
votes
How did Russia retain the UNSC veto power of the Soviet Union?
Essentially, you got a permanent seat on the Security Council if you were one of the major powers who won WW2 and went about setting up the post-war peace organisation, i.e the United Nations. When ...
- 8,437
81
votes
Accepted
Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?
Many countries consider themselves allies of the US, but few take foreign policy stances just because the US says so. (The US also does not always vote the same way as its allies.) The vast majority ...
- 15.2k
80
votes
Accepted
Why did The Bahamas vote against the UN resolution for Ukraine reparations?
It appears that the delegation intended to vote 'Abstain', but that the vote was incorrectly recorded as 'Against'. You can see the country's vote change on the board just as the chair reports that ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
74
votes
Has a world leader been laughed at while addressing the UN General Assembly before?
Yes, it has happened before. The following excerpt is from a France 24 article:
Light moments are exceedingly unusual in the UN General Assembly, which follows a strict protocol in with [sic] each ...
JJJ♦
- 38.9k
73
votes
Accepted
Why does the US block a UN statement calling for violence to stop in the Palestine-Israel conflict?
Why does the US block a UN statement calling for violence to stop in the Palestine-Israel conflict?
— because the statement was not only for calling the violence to stop, but about condemning Israel'...
- 17.2k
61
votes
Non-subjective definition of "terrorist", or widely used equivalent term?
TL;DR: Yes, there is an objective term.No, there is no way to force people to use the term objectively in political contexts and they don't tend to.
The term "terrorism" isn't subjective. ...
- 91.8k
58
votes
Accepted
Why is North Korea allowed to be in the UN?
TLDR: No real law is opposed to their actions and expelling them would suit nobody
According to the UN charter, membership is open to
is open to all peace-loving States that accept the ...
- 8,437
58
votes
Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?
I'm not even sure in what year that vote you mention was taken, because it's a UN tradition by now
The UN General Assembly has, since 1992, passed a resolution every year condemning the ongoing ...
- 144k
53
votes
Why were China, Russia and Cuba allowed to join the UN human rights council?
If you want to have an organization that includes every country on Earth, you have to have standards that are acceptable to the lowest common denominator nations. Otherwise, they'd "take their ...
- 73k
50
votes
Why did Israel vote against lifting the American embargo on Cuba?
Other answers focus on the US-Israeli relationship, but there is also no love lost between Cuba and Israel. Cuba sent troops to fight Israel in the Yom Kippur War after breaking relations the previous ...
- 983
45
votes
Accepted
What exactly is the purpose of the Non-Proliferation Treaty when nuclear weapons can be substituted with conventional explosives?
A single missile delivering a nuclear payload can wipe out a city. Needing to deliver hundreds or thousands of bombs or missiles to "simulate that" is a much more difficult proposition, in terms of ...
- 20.8k
43
votes
Accepted
What reasoning did Eritrea provide for its vote on the UN resolution against the war in Ukraine?
Amanuel Giorgio, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Eritrea gave the following reasoning in a speech (press release) after the conclusion of the vote in the Emergency Special Session of the UN ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
42
votes
Could California Ratify the Paris Agreement?
The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Sec. 10 states in part (irrelevant wording removed):
"No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation, grant letters of marque or reprisal, emit ...
- 12k
41
votes
Accepted
Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN?
It shouldn't be that surprising - non-western states don't really have that high of a regard about the west's "moral authority on human rights" given their own sordid history (e.g. slavery, ...
- 6,684
38
votes
How did Russia retain the UNSC veto power of the Soviet Union?
When a country dissolves, merges, or suffers some other major changes, it's customary that the new country which emerges from this process inherits the rights and duties of the former - for example, ...
- 2,427
38
votes
Why, according to the UN, "gender-biased abortion" is against human rights but "abortion in general" is not?
"Unborn baby" is not a protected characteristic and hence the "unborn" cannot be discriminated against. Many would argue that the "unborn" are not legally persons and as ...
- 2,581
37
votes
Accepted
Was it advantageous for Russia to invade while holding the presidency of UN Security Council?
Not particularly. The only real use of the UNSC presidency powers so far was to attempt to hold the February 21st Security Council session, held at the request of Ukraine and sponsored by several UNSC ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
37
votes
Accepted
Why has India abstained on the UNSC resolution on Russia in Ukraine?
Historically, India was a leading member of the Non-Aligned movement and one of the non-Marxist-Leninist states closest to the Soviet Union. Those relations laid the foundation for good India-Russia ...
- 1,270
36
votes
Accepted
Is there a legal ground for stripping the UK of its UN Veto if Scotland and/or N.Ireland split from the UK?
Article 23 of the charter:
"The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations. The Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom ...
- 22k
35
votes
Accepted
Why did Ukraine abstain from the UNHRC vote on China?
Ukraine delegation has not officially stated the reason why they initially voted this way;
Analysts suggest that Ukraine may simply be “afraid of quarreling with China;”
“It’s just a shame:” The ...
- 17.2k
34
votes
Accepted
UN condemns Rohingya human rights abuses 134-9 with 28 abstentions. Which countries voted against?
The voting record for the resolution is as follows:
The countries voting against are Belarus, Cambodia, China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Philippines, Russian Federation, Vietnam, and ...
- 46.5k
33
votes
Why were China, Russia and Cuba allowed to join the UN human rights council?
There seems to be unfortunately no mechanism to keep this from happening. This is not the first time it has happened: Libya got the chairmanship in the past, under Gaddafi. The problem is that, as ...
33
votes
Accepted
On what grounds did Vladimir Putin invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter for self defence while going into Ukraine?
Russia's justification of its invocation of article 51 is based on its recognition of the DPR & LPR as independent states, combined with articles 3 and 4 of the treaties "of friendship and ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
30
votes
What is the legal background for Russia's seat as a Permanent Member of UNSC?
It is just an excerpt.
See NYT and for the entire protocol see 31 I.L.M 1992, page 147-155.
Member states of the commonwealth support Russia in taking over the U.S.S.R. membership in the U.N., ...
- 1,135
30
votes
Accepted
Can there be a UN resolution to remove a country from the UN Security Council?
Yes
The first and most obvious method is based on the UN charter, Article VI, which says in its entirety:
A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the
Principles contained ...
- 13.6k
29
votes
Accepted
What countries voted for letting Saudi Arabia join the UN women's rights commission?
According to the United Nations press release, the election was conducted using a secret ballot. In a secret ballot, there is no way to know who voted for a particular candidate.
To help you out a ...
- 23.8k
29
votes
Why do obvious humanitarian issues need to be voted on by members of the United Nations Security Council?
It is an obvious fact that all countries should help children, women and the wounded.
No, it's not. It's not obvious. It's obvious to me, and to a lot of people, but not to everyone. Remember that ...
- 1,906
27
votes
Can the Tyranny of the Majority rule be applied to the UN's General Assembly?
From the Wikipedia quote:
The tyranny of the majority (or tyranny of the masses) is an inherent weakness to majority rule
The key word there is "rule". The UN General Assembly has no power ...
- 11.8k
26
votes
Accepted
What would be the advantage of launching an UN-led inquiry over the Nord Stream sabotage?
Given the way it was phrased/proposed, it was rather clearly a proposal that was meant to be rejected, but made in order to generate news like this. (Would Russia accept a UN investigation about Bucha?...
- 144k
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