Sunday, March 29, 2015

UN ending

If the history of the United Nations tells us anything, it's that international relations have always been fraught, that it's a good idea to have all representatives together but nations remain steadfastedly ununited, with a switch in allegiance being about the only change in that respect.

I do find it kind of silly whenever a government starts arcing up about decisions made by the UN. Getting a majority of regions to align over an issue is an impressive task, so when they do aim their sites at something, that should be given its due attention.The member nation who isn't doing what the rest of the world thinks it should is on shaky ground. No doubt about it.

This is so even when the plurality dictates a differing approach to animal welfare, a discrete notion on human rights, an attitude held widely enough to cause a country to break ranks and discriminate against one of its ethnic groups or a social or cultural sector.

The obvious correlative is in considering the cooperation that does occur.

What the UN's detractors fail to take into account is that the vaccuum that would exist if there was no grouping would not be filled by the practice of nations charging off and doing their own thing. Nor is it in any way desirable when one nation grouping decides for everyone else which atrocity to avert, whose natural resources to exploit, and how much power is to be alotted, if any.

Like democracy and capitalism, the dominant forces in our nation, the UN is imperfect and fails repeatedly to discharge its duty sufficient to change a dangerous trend or save caught up innocents. We all have to weigh up the comparative benefit and cost. But it would be a mistake to withdraw, as Indonesia once did, because, seventy years down the track, it's tantamount to declaring yourself a rogue state.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Less UN to be learned

What are we to draw from this? Without confirmation bias to lead us astray, which direction should we take in determining the passing of time? Sure there are suddenly liberated nations joining but there are also surprising latecomers like Switzerland.

When you account for every country it is an exhaustive exercise.

Oh, researching as I go, Switzerland was a permanent observer state until joining in 2002 so that explains that.

The two remaining observers are Palestine and the Holy See.


Saturday, March 21, 2015

UN follow


1946
19 November 1946
 Afghanistan
  Iceland 
 Sweden
 16 December 1946
 Siam  →  Thailand
1947
30 September 1947
 Pakistan
 North Yemen →  Yemen (unified state after merging with  South Yemen)
1948
19 April 1948
 Burma  →  Myanmar
1949
11 May 1949
 Israel
1950s
1950
28 September 1950
 Indonesia
 1955
14 December 1955
 Albania
 Austria
 Bulgaria
 Cambodia →  Khmer Republic →  Cambodia →  Democratic Kampuchea →  Cambodia
 Ceylon →  Sri Lanka
 Finland
 Hungary
  Ireland
 Italy
 Jordan
 Laos Lao People's Democratic Republic
 Libya →  Libyan Arab Republic →  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya →  Libya
 Nepal
 Portugal
 Romania
 Spain
1956
12 November 1956
 Sudan
  Morocco
  Tunisia
 18 December 1956
 Japan
 1957
8 March 1957
 Ghana
 17 September 1957
 Federation of Malaya  →  Malaysia
1958
22 February 1958
 Egypt and  Syria merge to become the  United Arab Republic
12 December 1958
 Guinea 
1960s
1960
20 September 1960
 Cameroun →  CameroonUnited Republic of Cameroon →  Cameroon
 Togo
  Madagascar
  Somalia
 Congo (Léopoldville)  →  Zaire →  Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Dahomey  →  Benin
 Niger
  Upper Volta  →  Burkina Faso
 Ivory Coast  →  Côte d'Ivoire
 Chad
 Congo (Brazzaville)  →  People's Republic of the Congo →  Congo Gabon Central African Republic  →  Central African Empire →  Central African Republic
 Cyprus
 28 September 1960
 Senegal
  Mali
 7 October 1960
 Nigeria
 1961
27 September 1961
 Sierra Leone
27 October 1961
 Mongolia
  Mauritania
14 December 1961
 Tanganyika →  United Republic of Tanzania (after merging with  Zanzibar)
1962
18 September 1962
 Rwanda
 Burundi
 Jamaica
 Trinidad and Tobago
8 October 1962
 Algeria
 25 October 1962
 Uganda
 1963
14 May 1963
 Kuwait
 16 December 1963
 Zanzibar → merged with  Tanganyika (now  United Republic of Tanzania)
 Kenya
1964
1 December 1964 
Malawi 
Malta 
Zambia 
1965
20 January 1965
 Indonesia withdraws from the United Nations
21 September 1965
 The Gambia
  Maldives
  Singapore
1966
20 September 1966
 Guyana
 28 September 1966
 Indonesia rejoins the United Nations
17 October 1966
 Botswana
 Lesotho
 9 December 1966
 Barbados 
1967
14 December 1967
 South Yemen  → merged with  North Yemen (now unified state of  Yemen)
1968
24 April 1968
 Mauritius 
24 September 1968
 Swaziland
12 November 1968
 Equatorial Guinea
 1970s
1970
13 October 1970
 Fiji 
21 September 1971
 Bhutan
 Bahrain
Qatar 
7 October 1971
 Oman 
9 December 1971
 United Arab Emirates
18 September 1973
 Federal Republic of Germany →  Germany (unified state after accession of  German Democratic Republic)
German Democratic Republic → acceded to  Federal Republic of Germany (now unified state of  Germany)
The Bahamas
1974
17 September 1974
 Bangladesh
 Grenada 
 Guinea-Bissau 
1975
16 September 1975
 Cape Verde 
 São Tomé and Príncipe 
 People's Republic of Mozambique  →  Mozambique
10 October 1975
 Papua New Guinea 
12 November 1975
 Comoros 
4 December 1975
 Suriname 
1976
21 September 1976
 Seychelles
1 December 1976
 People's Republic of Angola →  Angola
15 December 1976
 Western Samoa  →  Samoa
1977
20 September 1977
 Djibouti
 Vietnam
1978
19 September 1978
 Solomon Islands
18 December 1978
 Dominica
1979
18 September 1979
 Saint Lucia
1980s
1980
25 August 1980
 Zimbabwe 
16 September 1980
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1981
15 September 1981
Vanuatu 
25 September 1981
Belize 
11 November 1981
 Antigua and Barbuda 
1983
23 September 1983
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 
1984
21 September 1984
 Brunei Darussalam 
1990s
1990
23 April 1990
 Namibia 
18 September 1990
 Liechtenstein
1991
17 September 1991
 North Korea
 South Korea 
 Federated States of Micronesia 
 Marshall Islands
 Estonia 
 Latvia
 Lithuania 
1992
2 March 1992
 Kazakhstan
 Armenia 
Kyrgyzstan 
Uzbekistan 
Tajikistan 
Moldova 
Turkmenistan 
Azerbaijan 
San Marino 
22 May 1992
Croatia 
Slovenia 
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina  →  Bosnia and Herzegovina
31 July 1992
Georgia 
1993
19 January 1993
Slovakia
Czech Republic 
8 April 1993
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
28 May 1993
 Eritrea 
 Monaco
28 July 1993
Andorra 
1994
15 December 1994
 Palau 
1999
14 September 1999
 Kiribati 
 Nauru 
 Tonga 
2000s
2000
5 September 2000
Tuvalu 
1 November 2000
 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia  →  Serbia and Montenegro →  Serbia (successor state)
2002
10 September 2002
Switzerland
27 September 2002
 East Timor
2006
28 June 2006
Montenegro 
2010s
2011
14 July 2011
 South Sudan