In 1945, still reeling from World War II, representatives from 50 nations reached back to the U.S. Constitution when they wrote the Preamble to the United Nations charter.
asserted
they → reel → charter
“WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS” were, they wrote, “DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.
asserted
justice → write → law
Central to that effort was the principle, stated in Article 2, that “[a]ll Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
asserted
Members → state → Nations
The U.N. General Assembly has been meeting in New York City since September 8, and today began its high-level General Debate, the annual meeting of the heads of state and heads of government that launches the General Assembly session.
asserted
that → meet → session
At the General Debate, all 193 U.N. member states are invited to address the General Assembly.
asserted
states → invite → Assembly
By tradition, Brazil speaks first because it was the first to volunteer to speak in 1955 when no other country would.
asserted
country → speak → 1955
Because the United States is the country that hosts the United Nations, it usually speaks second.
asserted
it → host → Nations
In his speech today, President Donald J. Trump, reading haltingly off a teleprompter, said: “I have a big decision to make.
asserted
I → read → decision
Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?
asserted
it → make → East
Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?
asserted
I → annihilate → people
Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”
asserted
I → drive → greatness
Much of the Iranian delegation walked out.
asserted
Much → walk → delegation
Trump’s immediate switch to a talking point about the midterms suggests that his speech was aimed at U.S. voters more than the U.N. audience, but it should not be overlooked that he stood in front of world leaders and rejected the premise of the U.N.
Touting his own “Board of Peace” and continuing his fiction that he has solved multiple wars, he outlined a fantasy worldview of himself as a powerful dictator, a man of action who rejects the diplomacy at the heart of the U.N.
“I do not believe in letting problems fester,” he declared.
uncertain
he → suggest → U.N.
“They only become harder to solve.
asserted
They → become → ?
So while others have talked, I have acted.
asserted
I → talk → ?
While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace.
asserted
I → speak → peace
While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them.
asserted
I → ignore → them
While others have talked of courage, America has shown it.
asserted
America → talk → it
While others have promised strength, I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world.”
Rejecting the principles on which the U.N. was founded, Trump instead embraced the idea that powerful countries will have spheres of influence, dominating their neighbors.
asserted
countries → promise → neighbors
This is the worldview advanced by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, who seeks to have control over the decisions made by the countries around Russia, including Ukraine.
asserted
who → advance → Ukraine
In this worldview, as Trump sees it, the United States will control the western hemisphere.
asserted
States → see → hemisphere
“To the victor belong the spoils,” he told the U.N. in a perverse echo of the world the U.N. founders set out to change.
asserted
founders → belong → world
“You’ve all heard that.”
asserted
You → hear → that
Trump threatened Mexico and boasted of U.S. attacks on Venezuela that removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power and replaced him with Delcy Rodríguez, who was willing to work with the Trump administration to allow the U.S. access to Venezuelan oil fields.
asserted
who → threaten → fields
“Our actions in Venezuela are proof that the United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
asserted
States → permit → Hemisphere
And if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States.”
uncertain
we → use → States
“My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba,” Trump said, “where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they’ve ever been under.
asserted
they → seek → pressure
It’s an absolutely failed state.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
It’s failing like never before and it will fall.
asserted
it → fail → ?
Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation.
asserted
Rubio → handle → negotiation
He’s deep into negotiations with Cuba.
asserted
He → ’ → Cuba
Let’s see what happens.”
asserted
what → see → ?
The Cuban delegation walked out.
asserted
delegation → walk → ?
In an echo of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump went full white nationalist, accusing the “U.N.’s top human rights officials” of wanting the U.S. “to open up our borders to gangs and criminals from [the] world’s most dangerous places….
asserted
U.S. → go → places
It is deeply ironic that the United Nations has an entire institution, the UNESCO group of people and countries devoted to protecting cultural heritage.
asserted
Nations → have → heritage
Yet with their ceaseless promotion of mass migration, these globalists are actively destroying the greatest cultures and most extraordinary heritage in all of history.
asserted
globalists → destroy → history
There is no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation, and we want to remain a sovereign nation and so should you.”
asserted
you → be → immigration
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal, asked the nations of the world to hold fast to a different vision.
asserted
Guterres → ask → vision
He warned that “we are witnessing an extraordinary transfer of power away from governments to a handful of private corporations and individuals,” whose “reach now extends across politics, economies, information flows, technological development, and the civic space on which societies depend.”
asserted
societies → warn → which
“At the very moment when humanity faces an unprecedented convergence of threats, our mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain.”
asserted
mechanisms → face → strain
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
