My post at The Washington Note Comments

Steve Clemons, the Bolton expert, is planning to discuss reform at the UN. His latest blog entry at The Washington Note is referenced on this subject. In this context I have posted this in the Comments section at his site:

Reform of the UN cannot happen until the financial dominance of the US as the perceived "primary contributor" is erased.

The US gets more out of the UN in jobs, revenue generation in various forms, tourism, etc., than it puts in. That was exactly what was told to me by Kofi Annan, and is also analysed at my blog, http://MoveTheUN.blogspot.com.

Hence the decision to cut funding by the US would be the ideal opportunity to cut the US dominant influence over the UN.

The first step in this reform should be the siting of the UN in a location where the cost of operations can be drastically brought down.

It should be in a country which is secular, politically neutral and has a good infra-structure base. (If multinationals are outsourcing to third world countries to reduce costs and increase profits, which is "good" business sense, why not apply this also to the UN?)

With this done, the other reforms now being discussed to increase the number of Permanent Security Council members by 6, including two from Africa, would be a major step forward.

Any country at war on any grounds in any part of the world should be immediately denied the vote at the UN on all matters.

Any country which violates a UN resolution should also automatically lose its vote till the resolution is abided to.

Any country which fails to pay its dues on time should also lose its vote with immediate effect till all dues are paid in full, and not after the present grace time, which presently has benefited some bully nations the most.

Many more reform ideas which would make the UN more democratic and accountable can be dreamnt of - but none will occur so long as the US dominates the UN and that will not change UNTIL the UN is MOVED from its present location.