Another “Multilateral” Disaster?

Predictably, China is pouring cold water on a leaked U.S. strategy to bring North Korea before the U.N.

Wang Guangya told reporters a U.S. attempt at a Security Council resolution “would destroy the whole process” to resolve the North Korean nuclear dispute and “push a solution to this issue even farther away.” China is working with the other parties to get the talks back on track as soon as possible, he said.

Of course it is. What China really wants is for these talks and the crisis they’ll never resolve to go on for as long as possible. China will use the time to spread its influence in both Koreas, build its military, and extract concessions from Taiwan. A smart(er?) administration would draw the obvious conclusion: going to the U.N. would be just as counterproductive this time as it was the last. Perhaps even for the same reasons.

It may be time to extend the argument to the whole U.N. experiment. Until and unless the U.N. reforms itself into a body that has worthy objective values, something it distinctly lacks when it comes to North Korean human rights and refugees, the best way to treat it may be to ignore it. That could be the best argument for sending John Danforth 2.0 there instead of John Bolton, who will undoubtedly raise plenty of unpleasantness about corruption, waste, and the easy tolerance of mass murder in its member states. But another answer might be, “Why bother?” Why not just continue to say nice things, cease the unpleasant questions, and let the entire enterprise sink into well-earned irrelevance. I’m honestly not sure of the answer here, but China and the U.N. itself are proving to be persuasive.