(8/28/12) Us and the UN

The group at the UN!

Today, we left Vienna, and Austria for that matter, without even leaving Vienna. I had experienced this odd occurrence once before, on a trip with my synagogue, Temple Beth El of Aliso Viejo. The rabbi took the confirmation class every two years or so to New York for a trip, exploring Judaism and the like. We had the chance to visit the UN in New York, of which I unfortunately remember very little. What I did remember was that once we entered the UN, we left New York and the USA, entering international grounds. I was very impressed with that, and bragged to my dad (who loves politics and history) about it. 

I was impressed for a second time, not because we left the country (I honestly think that whole “international grounds” thing is kind of silly, and as a sidenote, it reminds me of this six-inch hole on the Berkeley campus that is free from law, some leftover relic of the free speech days. One could not possibly fit into the “free hole” and thus could not do something free from the law, so it’s all symbolic hodgepodge.) But, as I continually discovered in my travels to Austria, Austria carries a lot of power. The UN situates itself in four places: New York, Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna (I suppose I have to head to Geneva and Nairobi to “catch ‘em all”).  

The free hole.

Update: (9/14/12) Yesterday, I received an alert from the New York Times, as an article regarding the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) was posted. The IAEA is apart of the UN, and when we visited the UN, we got a chance to visit the IAEA as well. We also heard a lecture from an entertaining, American member of the IAEA named Greg Webb. During his lecture, he commented on the issue with Iran and their nuclear weapon testing. Iran was refusing to keep its supply of uranium in check or to stop doing nuclear research, both refusals pointing to an interest in nuclear science, and inevitably, the use of nuclear weapons. This is especially troubling in regards to the conflict in the middle east, and is, for lack of better terminology, pissing Israel off. Israel is, in return, threatening the use of airstrikes, obviously not conducive to peace in the middle east. 

Anyway, the article addresses this problem, stating that the IAEA passed a resolution publicly disapproving of what Iran was up to in their nuclear research. Of course, with the IAEA being apart of the UN, this does not mean they intend on doing anything other than voicing disapproval (I don’t even mean this in a deprecating way, but the disapproval was more of a call for peaceful resolution than for any action). The truth is that the UN really can’t do anything about the situation, other than vocally comment. Iran’s procrastination in complying with the UN’s demands is a little frightening, indicating the possibility (even if it’s a small possibility) of nuclear warfare in the middle east. A quote from the article comments on Iran’s possible methods of clearing up evidence of testing: “Mr. Wood, the United States envoy, accused Iran of “systematically demolishing” a facility at the Parchin military site that agency inspectors want to visit as part of their investigation.” This of course would imply that they have something to cover up. 

The cool, not-as-scary part of this whole thing is that we were at the UN as the IAEA was making the decision to comment on Iran’s illegal activity. Greg Hess even mentioned that the talks had been going on that week. What’s funny to me is how Vienna is so unknown in some ways. I remember when I first told one of my good friends about my trip to Vienna, she said, “Oh, I love Italy!” But in other ways, Vienna is so unarguably significant. I’m not sure how this situation with Iran will turn out, but I'm sure that the decisions in regards to action towards Iran and the middle east will be made right there at the IAEA. Luckily for those world leaders, the food in the cafeteria is really good, and really cheap. 

Here’s a link to the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/world/middleeast/un-nuclear-watchdog-passes-resolution-on-iran.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y