Is the UN a government?

AuldSoul

The contention of the WTS that the UN is a government is complete hogwash. It is not. I don't know why it took so long for me to realize this most basic flaw in their defense strategy.

Governing requires continuous sovereign AUTHORITY over, to control the making AND administration of policy within, to exercise a determining influence over, to have decisive influence.

The UN is an association of nations. Like NATO (which is ALSO not a government). The WTS is no more subject to the authority of the UN than any non-member nation is subject to its authority.If the WTS fomented international unrest, the UN might exercise force against it, but it is NOT subject to the UN.

The UN has no sovereignty, has no dominion, and has no subjects. It is NOT a government. Their voluntary association to an agency of this combine of nations is in DIRECT contradiction to their former policies.

That they published that they view the UN as any other government is quickly shown to be a lie from consideration of their publications. But whether they should view the UN as a government, of any kind, is not a matter of perception. It is a matter of fact. The UN doesn't claim to be a government and does not fulfill the societal role of a government. Therefore, the UN is NOT a government.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

garybuss

I think I can view the UN as an association of governments and I can view that association aggregate as a government as well. By resolution, the UN certainly has the powers as well as the behaviors of a Government.

Good topic! The nature of the United Nations.

Atlantis

Nowhere do I find in the definition of the "United Nations" that it is a government. Yet below the Watchtower indicates otherwise! http://www.answers.com/topic/united-nations United Nations (UN)

International organization founded (1945) at the end of World War II to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations on equal terms, and encourage international cooperation in solving intractable human problems. A number of its agencies have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, and the UN was the corecipient, with Kofi Annan, of the prize in 2001. The term originally referred to the countries that opposed the Axis powers. An international organization was discussed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, and the UN charter was drawn up two months later at the UN Conference on International Organization. The UN has six principal organs: the Economic and Social Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, the Secretariat, the United Nations Security Council, and the United Nations Trusteeship Council. It also has 14 specialized agencies-some inherited from its predecessor, the League of Nations (e.g., the International Labour Organization)-and a number of special offices (e.g., the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), programs, and funds (e.g., UNICEF). The UN is involved in economic, cultural, and humanitarian activities and the coordination or regulation of international postal services, civil aviation, meteorological research, telecommunications, international shipping, and intellectual property. Its peacekeeping troops have been deployed in several areas of the world, sometimes for lengthy periods (e.g., they have been in Cyprus since 1964). The UN's world headquarters are in New York City; its European headquarters are in Geneva. In 2005 the UN had 191 member countries. The principal administrative officer of the UN is the secretary-general, who is elected to a five-year renewable term by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The secretaries-general of the UN have been Trygve Lie (1946–53), Dag Hammarskjöld (1953–61), U Thant (1961–71), Kurt Waldheim (1972–81), Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1982–91), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992–96), and Kofi Annan (from 1997).

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Watchtower-1954-November-15-p.679

Frequently the Bible uses a beast to symbolize a government, as in Daniel chapter 7. We do today, as is evident from the Russian bear, the British lion and the American eagle. This scarlet-colored wild beast represents a combination of nations, as the League of Nations was and the United Nations is.

Scan:

http://www.wirefiles.com/show.php/6487_WT5410001.jpg

Cheers! Atlantis- (Good topic!)

M.J.

Not totally relevant but here's what the WTS itself said about the League of Nations (which the WTS treats as being the same thing as the UN) just following the agreement by the Paris Peace Conference to create the body in January of 1919:

"We cannot but admire the hight principles embodied in the proposed League of Nations, formulated undoubtedly by those who have no knowledge of the great plan of God. This fact makes all the more wonderful the ideals which they express. For instance, it has been made plain by President Wilson and the advocates of his ideas that the proposed League of Nations is more than merely a league to enforce peace. They would not have us consider it too exclusively from the standpoint of politics or of military relations. It should be considered as fully from the economic and social points of view. The President's idea seems to be that the league of Nations which he proposes should stand for world service rather than mere world regulation in the military sense, and that the very smallest of nations shall be participants in its every arrangement. In other words, his idea undoubtedly is that the league shall not be established merely for the purpose of promoting peace by threat or coercion; but that its purpose, when put into operation, will be to make all nations of earth one great family, working together for the common benefit in all the avenues of national life. Truly this is idealistic, and approximates in a small way that which God as foretold that he will bring about after this great time of trouble."
--The Watch Tower, February 15,1919, p. 51.

M.J.

government

Concise Encyclopedia Article Page 1 of 1

Political system by which a body of people is administered and regulated.

Different levels of government typically have different responsibilities. The level closest to those governed is local government. Regional governments comprise a grouping of individual communities. National governments nominally control all the territory within internationally recognized borders and have responsibilities not shared by their subnational counterparts. Most governments exercise executive, legislative (seelegislature), and judicial (seejudiciary) powers and split or combine them in various ways. Some also control the religious affairs of their people; others avoid any involvement with religion. Political forms at the national level determine the powers exercised at the subnational levels; these have included autocracy, democracy, fascism, monarchy, oligarchy , plutocracy (government by the wealthy), theocracy, and totalitarianism.

"government." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 28 Sept. 2006 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9365906>.

con?fed?er?a?cy / k?n'f?d alt ?r alt ? alt si, -'f?d alt r? alt si / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [ kuh alt n-fed-er-uh-see, -fed-ruh-see ] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -cies.

1.	an alliance between persons, parties, states, etc., for some purpose.

2.	a group of persons, parties, states, etc., united by such a confederacy.

3.	a combination of persons for unlawful purposes; conspiracy.

4.	the Confederacy. Confederate States of America.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME confederacie < AF; see confederate, -acy ]

skyking

Good point

Gerard

That is correct. Only a state with defined geographical borders can be a country and then, have a government. UN is not a government, it is an intagible entity set uo to provide a representative forum.

Arthur

Yes, I don't know how the UN can be viewed as a government in and of itself. Even though it's body has the authority to pass economic sanctions, deploy peace-keeping missions, and mediate trans-national conflicts; these actions are the decisions made by the individual governments which comprise the UN. We only have to look at the UN Security Council as an example. This council generally can never pass sanctions or resolutions without the cooperation of the most influential members (i.e. U.S. Britain, China, Russia).

Oh, by the way; excellent topic AuldSoul.

fullofdoubtnow

I can't see the UN as a government at all. They are a representative body made up of the majority of the world's nations, and at times they don't appear to be that united anyway. They can pass redolutions, but do not have the authority to impose legislation, which a government would have.

Kenneson

What citizen of the United States or any other country is also a citizen of the U.N.? The United States has its own government. It is not willing to set aside its sovereignty for another government. Nor would another government have its headquarters upon American soil. We are not governed by two governments.

Is the UN a government?

government

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