Volume 33, Number 2 · February 13, 1986
Keeping the Lid On
By Murray Kempton
Four Failures: A Report on the UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights in Chile, Guatemala, Iran and Poland
a report from Americas Watch, Asia Watch, and Helsinki Watch
The grounds for appreciating the United Nations are concededly unextensive; but its detractors may unjustly undervalue it as a convenience for Americans. The UN's uses for stimulating individual American careers are the most familiar of its contributions to what we take to be the national welfare. One United Nations veteran, a Westerner with a sardonically detached view of the fools of both hemispheres, contemplated the apotheosis of former ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and observed, 'You know, one of your public men or women can come here dim in the general consciousness, slang us awhile, and go forth to shine eternally. Maybe we should charge a springboard fee.'
Review, 941 words
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