We are witnessing the death throes of Sunni power in Iraq. They face stark choices.
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 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.
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 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.
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