Conor Cruise O'Brien Quotes

The main thing that endears the United Nations to member governments, and so enables it to survive, is its proven capacity to fail, and to be seen to fail.

The United Nations is a failed institution in its current form.

There is, and there will be, an increasing demand for a principled global security provider, for a superpower that believes in multilateralism and cooperation.

The U.N. is capable of endless process and mindless psychobabble, but as far as getting the job done on the ground, I just don't see them doing it.

The U.N. is one of many competitors in a marketplace of global problem solving.

The U.N. can be very frustrating and at times impotent, but it can also be a valuable forum for discussion and resolution of world problems. We should not walk away from it just because it's failed to live up to its promise.

The purpose of the United Nations should be to protect the essential sovereignty of nations, large and small.

I don't know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community.

So I've gone in and out of the U.N., working on counter-terrorism, on U.N. reform, on peacekeeping, peace and security issues, many things through the years but always with a strong interest in humanitarian issues, and human rights issues as well.

Attempts to settle crises by unilateral sanctions outside the framework of U.N. Security Council decisions threaten international peace and stability. Such attempts are counterproductive and contradict the norms and principles of international law.

The utter incompetence of the U.N. is literally incomprehensible.

The United Nations remains our most important global actor. These days we are continuously reminded of the enormous responsibility of the Security Council to uphold international peace and stability.

The United Nations has a critical role to play in promoting stability, security, democracy, human rights, and economic development. The UN is as relevant today as at any time in its history, but it needs reform.

Of course the UN brings in a lot of moral authority.

The Czech Republic is a dynamic United Nations Member State, active on the Human Rights Council, contributing to the peaceful settlement of disputes, and helping other countries to achieve a democratic transition.

The U. N. is like a company that can't market its products and whose board members put their own interests first.

Without the U. N., world politics is inconceivable.

The UN is ultimately going to be judged on its ability in conflict resolution and conflict prevention.

The President professes a faith in the United Nations but his actions and statements are not designed to give life or vitality to that organization.

The best thing that most Americans can say about the UN is that it is ineffectual. That’s the best thing.

… unless the United Nations stops becoming simply a debating society for anti-American rhetoric, I'm going to show them the door.

For most countries, serving the UN's objectives has never seemed worth even the smallest of risks. Member nations do not want a large, reputable, strong and independent United Nations, no matter their hypocritical pronouncements otherwise. What they want is a weak, beholden, indebted scapegoat of an organization, which they can blame for their failures or steal victories from.

It [the UN] has given uniquely valuable services in many places where violence threatened. It is the only real world forum where we have the opportunity for international presentation and rebuttal…. The United Nation deserves our continued firm support.

I worked at the United Nations.

I am totally committed to the cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations.