Keylor: World dynamics mean U.N. must reform

The United Nations as we know it must be reformed to deal with the changing way wars are conducted, Boston University professor William Keylor told members of BU’s Model United Nations and other students last night in the Photonics Center.

Keylor, who addressed more than 50 students during his lecture titled ‘Iraq: Why Diplomacy Failed,’ traced the history of United Nations diplomacy with Iraq to the present day and addressed all facets of the current conflict. He also explained the juxtaposition between the French and the United States positions on the war and the plague of anti-American sentiment that is spreading to all areas of the globe.

Keylor talked about the changes the United Nations will be forced to undergo in response to the war with Iraq and diplomacy leading up to it.

‘[This will be] the most important transformation of the international world order since World War II,’ Keylor said. ‘We will see the future of the [United Nations].’

The United States’ strength in conviction leaves no room for mediation by the United Nations, Keylor said. Because the Bush administration was convinced disarmament of Iraq is vital to America’s national interest, it could not fully turn the security of the country to the United Nations, where the administration’s views were not be shared by other nations, endangering the mission’s success.

Keylor explained that any hope for diplomacy was shattered by the France’s promise to the U.N. Security Council of a veto. Despite British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s efforts to persuade the Bush administration to continue conducting United Nations inspections in order to gain the body’s authorization, France’s veto ensured that pleas to the United Nations would be useless.

France has shrunk as a major world power since the creation of the United Nations, but with the help of the European Union’s development, France can now afford to take a definitive stance, independent of the crutch of a global superpower’s support, Keylor said.

Keylor also said the way wars are literally fought have changed the dynamics of United Nations decisions. If the United Nations is unable to adapt itself to the change in the structure of modern wars, NATO could potentially take its place as a neutral global government, Keylor said. In addition, Keylor said the European Union may also develop further into a collective force, as talks advance to the discussion of policy for a European defense force, also reducing the need for the United Nations.

Clearly, it is in the United Nations’ best interest to reform and adapt to changing times, he said.

Organizers of last night’s lecture said they were very pleased with the event’s turnout.

‘Several of [the members of the Model U.N. Executive Board] are in Keylor’s International Relations class, so we know he’s a great speaker,’ Model U.N. treasurer Alex Kayyal said.

All e-board members said they were very impressed with the attendance of the event, especially from BU’s typically politically inactive student body.

Students said they were impressed with Keylor’s style and the thoroughness with which he was able to cover the wrangling of diplomacy from 1991 to the present.