ROUNDUP: POLL: STRONG SUPPORT FOR UN TO FIGHT TERRORISM, GENOCIDE
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
May 10, 2007 Thursday 2:07 AM EST
DPA POLITICS UN Terrorism ROUNDUP: Poll: Strong support for UN to
fight terrorism, genocide Embargo expired New York
A majority of people in a recent multinational survey support giving
the UN Security Council more authority to use force to prevent
nuclear proliferation, terrorist attacks and genocide, according to
a 19-country poll released Thursday.
The poll was conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and
the Washington-based WorldPublicOpinion.org in countries constituting
half of the world population of 6.7 billion.
The response indicated large majorities or pluralities in all
countries, with strong support for a major UN role in volatile
international issues from people surveyed in China (67 per cent),
France (84 per cent), the US (76 per cent), Israel (85 per cent),
Russia (65 per cent), Ireland (71 per cent) and South Korea (61
per cent).
Despite support for UN action against threats like nuclear weapons
and terrorism, those surveyed opposed UN decisions that go against
their own national interests.
"Despite well-publicized disagreements over the role of the UN in
world affairs, this survey clearly shows that international public
opinion has coalesced around the notion that the UN should be the
vehicle for conflict resolution and international cooperation on
a wide variety of pressing problems," said Christopher Whitney,
executive director for studies at the Chicago council.
Steven Kull, editor of the Washington group, said: "While leaders of
nation-states may be wary of giving the UN more power, it is clear
that publics around the world are comfortable with the idea of a
stronger UN."
Kull, who was at UN headquarters in New York to launch the survey,
said that questionnaires were submitted from June 2006 to March 2007,
but not all questions were asked in all countries. He said that other
public-opinion groups contributed to the survey.
China, India, the United States, Russia, France, Thailand, Ukraine,
Poland, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia,
Argentina, Peru, Armenia, Israel and the Palestinian territories were
among those polled.
The poll said that 72 per cent of those polled in the US support
a standing UN peacekeeping force to deal with issues of terrorism,
nuclear weapons and genocide. The force should be trained, selected
and commanded by the United Nations, the poll said. Support in France
was 77 per cent and Peru 77 per cent.
Countries polled gave on average 55-per-cent support for the UN to
regulate the international arms trade.
The UN received higher support to investigate human-rights violations:
France (92 per cent), US (75 per cent), Peru (75 per cent) and South
Korea (74 per cent).