Customer Reviews

Inside the Asylum: Why the UN and Old Europe are Worse Than You Think

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

At first, I thought Inside the Asylum was going to be a 2, at most 3 star book. I suspected it would provide little information other than the standard clichés against the UN that one hears on talk radio. Well, Inside the Asylum proved to be a 5 star book instead. Solidly researched and presented, it provides sobering facts and insights as to the real UN, not the idealistic, utopian version you might have in your head. The real UN is an irrelevant, corrupt mess. I used to gasp at horror when someone suggested that the US leaving the UN. I now see that the UN is so incompetent and ineffective and downright corrupt that leaving it would be a blessing. The UN does little to actually fight terrorism, or to promote freedom and dignity of peoples around the world. Its main purpose is to fatten the wallets and increase the power of UN insiders, and to provide a means for petty dictatorships to weaken the United States. The author's suggestion that the US should leave the UN and focus on forming alliances with countries that really are for freedom and democracy came across as a breath of fresh air. If you care about foreign affairs, politics, and American autonomy, Inside the Asylum should be one of your "must reads" of the summer. You will definitely look at those politicians who say "we must go to the UN before we act" in a more jaundiced way than you did before.

"Inside the Asylum: Why the UN and Old Europe are Worse than You Think" by Jed Babbin

5 stars

The UN is broken and can't be fixed. In "Inside the Asylum: Why the UN and Old Europe are Worse than You Think," Jed Babbin answers a critical question that bears directly on the 2004 election. George Bush has relied too much on the UN, and is defeated there again and again. Why? Why is NATO -- successful in the Cold War -- now more a political fraternity than a military alliance?

This book could just as easily have been called "The Decline and Fall of the West" because it shows how the Western -- i.e., NATO -- nations have split apart. No longer sharing basic values, the nations that banded together to win the Cold War now can't even agree on what terrorism is. And some of them, notably France (which Babbin labels "our enemy"), choose the UN as their favorite mechanism for thwarting American policy.

But this isn't a polemic. Babbin does't say we should stomp out of the UN or NATO. He lays out carefully how we can -- and are --laying the foundation of a new global forum that can replace NATO, and which won't suffer the same paralysis, because it won't include the terrorists, dictators, and weasels that now prevent the UN from doing what its founders meant it to do.

In this presidential election, there is a lot of gasbag debate about failed diplomacy. This book should be read by every voter before the election. It proves why we can't rely on the UN for anything, and shows how American leadership succeeds without the UN better than it ever can within it.

Israel was created by the UN in 1947 and became a member of the world body two years later. Still, there are those who seek to destroy it. Is there any other UN member state still fighting for its right to exist? Palestinian, Saudi, and Syrian textbooks show maps that omit any mention of Israel. Instead, Israeli and Palestinian areas are combined into one country called Palestine. Inside the Asylum by Jed Babbin has pictures that document the Palestinian, Saudi, mantra of a one-state, solution-just like the maps. One only has to turn to page 155,160,161.

The UN's treatment of Israel has not lived up to the founding spirit that affirmed the equal treatment of member states. There are many others ways in which Israel has been singled out for special treatment at the UN, making it a pariah state. Over the years, nearly every UN body, regardless of its main subject of concern, has been pressed by Arab countries to adopt a special resolution, procedure, or agenda item condemning Israel for its treatment of Palestinians, holding Israel to a different standard than all other countries.

Inside the Asylum by Jed Babbin is a must have. He has documented the how the UN help international terrorist organizations. Inside the Asylum is the reference text that documents the UN is corrupt, scandalous and a threat to our American Policy.

Jed Babbin was Deputy Undersecretary of Defense in during the George H. W. Bush administration, and as such had great exposure to the inside workings of government including US relations with the UN. The book is short, easy to read, and generally well documented. It has an extensive "notes" section with many original sources cited, and photocopies of numerous pertinent UN documents toward the end of the book.

The UN has devolved into a sewer of international despotism, and is now nothing more than a third world debating society whose time has long past. Babbin explains the inner workings of the UN from how the UN feels free to assist Saddam Hussein in the totally corrupt "oil for food" program which netted Saddam (and the UN) billions, to how anti-American moral relativist Kofi Annan devotes his time to propping up third world dictatorships and tyrants. If you ever wanted to know how Libya could replace the US on the UN Human Rights commission, it's in here. If you ever wanted to know how France got a permanent seat on the security council (it was a goodwill gesture), it's in here. If you ever wanted to know how the UN works against the forces of western democracy embodied by the US and the UK, it's in here.

The last part of the book exposes the political machinations of "Old Europe," by which Babbin largely means France and Germany. Babbin cites the ever astute Mark Twain in a perfectly descriptive quotation on France: "France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks, it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by prostitutes." The more things change, the more they stay the same.

There is no questioning what side of the road Jed Babbin is on. I find this to be a cogently presented book that is on the money. With one possible exception, I believe that the one star reviews of this book are by leftists who have not actually read the book. The one that may have read it claims to be a UN insider, but offers no evidence that anything Babbin has said is factually incorrect. The point here is not to dissuade people critical of the book from reviewing it, but rather to point out that, in general, the people who dislike this book have not read the book, and therefore aren't really qualified to judge it. The people who have actually read the book with an open mind seem to find it important and relevant, by and large, I note.

I think that Babbin has done the nation and the world a huge favor by writing "Inside the Asylum." I recommend that everyone read it before the November elections.

If you don't read another book this year ... you simply MUST read Inside the Asylum: Why the UN and Old Europe are Worse Than You Think. As he lays out his arguments with clarity, detail, and corroboration, Mr. Babbin will open your consciousness to the corruption, mismanagement, political chicanery, and abuse that is the UN today. The case is simply overwhelming that the UN has outlived its usefulness. He not only makes the case that the UN is utterly corrupt, he also provides suggestions about what to do about the problem. There can be no justification or excuse for the US to continue to pour money, time, effort, and lives down the UN rathole. Don't take my word for it, read the book and see for yourself just how critical it is for the US to leave the UN in the dustbin of history.

This is a 'must read' for anyone who has ever wondered if the UN is worth anything. It's list of failures to act, and failures to succeed when it does act just keep getting longer. So too the scandals. Genocide in Africa continues, with no interference from the UN and, for the most part, silence from even the African member states. The missing billions of dollars in the Iraq oil-for-food scam will, almost certainly, not end with a single prosecution, As Mr. Babbin points out, the UN itself has much to answer for regarding the birth of nuclear terrorism in the Middle East. On the evidence presented here it is a mystery to me, and I am sure many others, why we hand over $7 billion a year to this shabby outfit.Who couldn't think of far more worthy recipient for that money right here at home? Mr. Babbin also illustrates why the emerging European (so called) Union is no better. The membership of this highly risky political experiment, who we once counted as our allies, seems only to unite (in part) in order to promote their own agenda, which includes opposing or frustrating almost anything the US proposes. According to the author, the EU believes that the US is a bigger problem in the world than Iran, Syria, and China combined, and given that countries like France and Germany have extensive interests in those lands, he has a good point and he makes it well. If you read nothing else political this year, read this book.

Edit 20 Dec 07 to add links.

This is a short but very worthwhile book that while it might be flawed in some small ways, renders and invaluable service but putting all of the arguments against the United Nations into one easy to understand and well-organized book.

The author is dramatically and compellingly sensible when he addresses the insanity of letting a bunch of left of center poor nations, each led by fat-cat corrupt bureaucrats living high on the hog and stealing their own countries blind, "out vote" the bill-payer--the USA--and saddle the USA with all kinds of costly and often ludicrous program demands.

He is also compelling in condemning United Nations tolerance of terrorism and of corruption. While the US continues to support 44 dictators--something that is addressed by Ambassador Mark Palmer is his superb book on "The Real Axis of Evil" and therefore something we have to stop before we can credibly criticize the United Nations, the author makes a strong case for dumping the UN and moving toward a new form of organization that is comprised of only the democratic nations that are not corrupt and that can pay their bills.

The author arouses fury, at least in me, when he points out that Russia and China have manipulated the system and avoided their responsibilities by paying, in 2003, $18.6 million for Russia and $23.7 million for China, this at a time when the US is paying 22% of the entire United Nations system budget. ENOUGH!!

There are over 15 places throughout the book where I have "AGREE!" in the margins, and I give the author very high marks for itemizing everything that is wrong with the United Nations and that needs to be fixed in a new organization. At one point, I could even see the great value of throwing the UN out of the US, of the Rockefeller family repossessing the land they gave to the UN for its HQS. Enough. Let them move to Geneva while we create a completely new building and a completely new democratic-capitalist organization that can serve as the political and economic counterpart to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

This brings up another point--the author very wisely points out all that is wrong with the European countries that abuse their NATO membership to get a free ride on regional security, when they are unwilling to invest even minimalist amounts in their own armed forces and in forces that could be use to the coalition. The author makes important points against both Germany and France that need to be understood by all Americans.

I do not normally agree with all that neo-conservatives say, but in this case, I believe the author has rendered a stellar service, and his book is not only worthwhile, it is politically actionable. Good stuff.

See also, with reviews:
Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future
Information And Communication Technology for Peace: The Role of Ict in Preventing, Responding to And Recovering from Conflict (Ict Task Force Series) (Ict Task Force Series)
Promoting Peace with Information: Transparency as a Tool of Security Regimes
Burundi on the Brink 1993-95: A UN Special Envoy Reflects on Preventive Diplomacy (Perspectives Series)
The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power

The UN was founded amidst great fanfare and hope. In the midst of a world war, dreamers sought an organization where grievances could be aired before they led to war. Today, the UN has sunk to low levels that would shock any founder. It is the tool of the terrorist against the civilized and a forum for thievery of the highest sort. Scandal is in every hall and darkens every door of the UN. That anyone in the US would still suggest that, in its present highly mismanaged form, the UN's permission be sought before the US acts in its own sovereign interests is hard to fathom. The US has constantly worked to build coalitions for the furtherance of freedom in the world only to be shouted down in the UN by the despots whose ox is to be gored or the venal whose paycheck might shrink. The fact that the US pays the biggest % of support for this abuse to have a forum is to add injury to insult.

NATO also receives scrutiny in this treatise. Many of the countries that are members do not invest enough in their military to warrant further inclusion and the resulting drop in their military's capabilities places an undue burden on the US. To reform NATO, many steps must be undertaken to bring these laggards (Germany in particular) back up to standard, or their membership should be questioned.

This book is well researched, important original documents are included, and insiders are interviewed. I deducted a star because of the highly charged, pejorative language in this billet doux.

In this book, Inside the Asylum, Jed Babbin, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense has written a concise (143 pages) but detailed and very realistic analysis of the UN and Old Europe's failings as international actors on the world stage today. This "must read" demonstrates that the UN and Old Europe are "morally bankrupt" and that neither is making the "world safe for democracy." In fact, on the contrary, this author demonstrates, unequivocally and unabashedly, that the UN and Old Europe are not only ineffective but false friends to the United States and a growing threat to international peace and security.

Grounded in solid research and sobering facts, plus his own extensive governmental experience, the first part of this very readable book deals with the glaring deficiencies associated with today's United Nations. This former Deputy Undersecretary during the administration of President George H. W. Bush is highly critical of what the UN has become --- an institution that ignores nuclear proliferation, is a mid-wife to terrorism, turns a blind eye to its own corruption and incompetence, squanders its members financial contributions, and facilitates a quagmire diplomacy.

Even if highly critical of the UN as an effective international player, Babbin is no unthinking unilateralist. He states that "America cannot and should not be isolationist . . ." but that does not mean that "we have to be multilateralist in the sense UN members want us to be." On the contrary, the author is a realistic multilateralist. And this means that the U.S. should seek a new and reformed UN and our "destination should be a new global organization of the free and democratic nations with which we share values and goals." Babbin, ever the realist in international affairs, acknowledges that this new framework will take time and effort but he is sure that this new organization of the free and democratic nations will "minimize the damage the UN can cause while we move ourselves and our allies into a new framework for international cooperation."

The second part of the book deals with the failings associated with what Babbin calls "Old Europe" --- the major nations of the European Union, France, Germany and the Benelux countries. In this second part, he builds upon his earlier thesis regarding the need for a new and reformed UN. Babbin calls for a new and reformed NATO, outside the framework of the European Union and a failing Old Europe. In fact, the "EUnuchs"(and the UN)are "united in seeing America as a threat to their own powers .... Many states within the EU follow France's lead and see their role as competing against America, rather than cooperating with us." The United States should lay the foundation for a new Anglo-European forum that will reform NATO, excluding nations that are not our partners and that do not "share a similar poltical and strategic vision and similar rates of defense expenditures with the United States." This new political/military alliance "will be better suited to mutually beneficial consultation, cooperation, and action." And it will be a more aggressive partner in the war against Islamo-Fascism.

During this presidential year, this is a book (to be read in tandem with Endgame by Generals Thomas McInerney and Paul Vallely) that calls for an American foreign and defense policy that emphasizes American sovereignty, decisive/pre-emptive self defense, reformed/realistic international cooperation and an aggressive/robust war against nuclear proliferation and Islamo-Fascism. At the same time, it offers real and specific recommendations for a realistic multilateral cooperation with like minded democracies interested in the same robust and energetic war against the Terror Masters. And this means, finally, that the UN, in Babbin's words should no longer be "an international enclave, no longer American territory. It is elegant, but still politically and intellectually a slum. Turtle Bay needs to be reclaimed for America, and so does our foreign polciy with Old Europe. President Bush has begun the process. Now is the time to finish the job."

One way to think of this useful little book is as an executive summary of ideas developed more fully elsewhere. I would particularly recommend Jean Francois Revel's "Anti-Americanism" and Kenneth Timmerman's "The French Betrayal of America" as more in-depth explorations of some of Jed Babbin's central topics. But if you don't have time to read those, then "Inside the Asylum" is a decent brief alternative. And given Babbin's experience and access (many quotes from key international leaders are introduced with the phrase "He told me..."), there is a fair amount of interesting and useful original reporting.

International affairs are a subject Americans as a whole don't seem to pay much attention to (except when we're being shot at). And so while most of us have a vague sense that there's something not quite right about the United Nations any more, it may be hard to articulate quite what that is. Babbin lays it all out, and makes clear his conviction that ultimately, the UN isn't "fixable" any more. A more radical -- in the original sense of "to the root" -- solution is called for, and Babbin offers his ideas.

Babbin makes a pretty strong case that there's nothing wrong with US foreign policy that submitting it to the control of the UN would repair, and nothing good about US policy that would be rendered better still by gaining UN approval for it. While the ground he covers may not be entirely new, the author presents his argument with thoroughness and style. It's a case that defenders of the United Nations need to -- and are conspicuously failing to -- address.