Bolton Sends 'em Boltin

Amb. John Bolton presided over his first UN Security Council meeting today and no one showed up. On time, that is.

On the first day of the US's month-long Council Presidency Bolton banged the gavel at 10 AM sharp, only to have his 14 colleagues from around the world -- used to the Council's normally leisurely cadences -- saunter in at quarter after. The Council membership is balking at a series of proposals Bolton has made for his tenure, including daily morning briefings on security issues from Kofi Annan with notes circulated in advance, and free-form debates in lieu of scripted statements. In response, Bolton has described his quest for reform as "irresistible force" bumping up against "immovable object."

The funny thing is, Bolton's right. The UN is too prone to operate like a laid-back international coffee house. It hardly seems too much to ask that the 15 people responsible for global peace and security meet to discuss the subject each morning. UN delegations like written statements because they enable capitals to dictate every word. But the end result is tedious, repetitive and cautious statements that stand in the way of genuine debate. Resolving tough issues among a diverse group requires the ability to react and compromise. Dispensing with prepared statements for routine meetings would make life more interesting, and allow the Council to cut to the chase.

The sad part is that Bolton's confrontational style and lack of allies may well mean that potentially valuable proposals for change fall flat despite their merits.