Why the UN Is Missing From The Presidential Campaign

One of the central players in international affairs and American foreign policy is the United Nations. But, as far as the 2008 presidential campaign, the UN is a missing topic. Why have both the Democrats and Republicans avoided talking about the UN?

The main reason is that neither party sees any gain in speaking about the organization. On the Democratic side, while Senator Obama has expressed, on occasion, some sympathy for the UN -- and has once vowed to address the body one day and declare that "America is back" -- traditionally the party has seen the UN as a losing issue. Democrats have long been fearful that too much emphasis on the UN reminds voters of the party's historic partiality to a sort of "soft multi-lateralism" and also suggests undue deference to global assemblies. On the Republican side, Senator McCain has had to grapple with a new situation as regards the UN. Where once the UN was the bete noire of the party's idealogues, now the Bush Administration has used the body regularly to enact resolutions against North Korea, Iran, Russia, Syria and other adversaries. So McCain has sidestepped the old bogeyman theme and recently endorsed a new notion of a "League of Democracies" to enforce human rights and democratic governance -- though promising that his League would not "supplant" the UN but "complement" it. The failure of both candidates to give greater emphasis to future American ties to the UN, though, means that once again the UN, which has always had a shifting support among Americans, will receive no public endorsement in this election -- weakening its standing and relegating the institution to customary unremarked and stealth role in US global policy.