Nile Gardiner Quotations

It now appears that the last thing many human rights groups really wanted was a thoroughly reformed human rights body at the U.N. - meaning an organization dominated by strong democracies. That would deprive them of an international forum in which to criticize America for its alleged global assault on human rights.

It's better to continue the negotiating process than sow the seeds for civil war, which is the alternative. Every effort must be made to hammer out an agreement by all sides because the alternative is bloodshed and endless violence.

The message of this week is one of monumental disappointment. We have seen the UN desperately searching for a role in the 21st century but not finding one. Ultimately, that role may far more limited than what people have been used to ... the UN is likely to become a bystander.

The council is in some ways worse than what we had before, because it lends a veneer of improvement ... to an apparatus that is still likely to be co-opted by despots.

Iran is the biggest test now facing the UN,

But if it wants to sit on the sidelines, as it did in Iraq, then I'm afraid its authority will be lost because the pressure on any US administration to ignore it will be immense.

The lowering of expectations with regard to the performance of the British economy will greatly undercut Brown's Marshall plan for Africa. It's an unusual position for Gordon Brown to be in.