Keeping Up Appearances

As anyone who has observed the machinations of the United Nations knows, the UN is not a democratic organization; a handful of countries have more power than the rest combined. Still, this group of victors from World War II has to keep up appearances, and paying lip service to such things as democracy and human rights serves its purpose.

But in condemning bloodshed by ignorant savages and backward states, this elite group of countries has to be careful to hide the fact it is they themselves who are most often responsible for arming and instigating conflict. Making money off genocide is bad for public relations.

With the advent of independent media and Internet communications, covering up their hypocrisies is more of a challenge, so what they can no longer hide, they now distort. Not that psychological warfare disguised as news is new, but the presentation and tone of official blogs — and other deceptive devices used by the powerful — has recently been used to good effect in luring unsuspecting young people into complacency, even enthusiastic support for anti-democratic initiatives by UN agencies and member states. A good time to revisit the principles of psywar.