Apparently, in the new Iron Man blockbuster, Robert Downey, Jr. is fighting off villains to defend the United Nations. (To which I joke: checking the IMDB page, though, I don't see Cliff Kincaid or Phyllis Schlafly on the cast roster.) From the Guardian, via All America Blog.

It's nothing new that Iron Man, the latest in Marvel's pop-icon pantheon to hit the big screen, is coming to the rescue of the United Nations. In a specially customised comic book, Ol Shellhead and his costumed cohorts will battle that most terrible of supervillains, a tarnished public image, by demonstrating the UN's positive, proactive roles. Will it work? It's debatable: over the years these earnest, message-laden stories have not always been too effective as weapons of mass persuasion.

[snip]

As for the UN, superheroes have come to its rescue before. In November 1967, The Justice League Of America featured the UN symbol on the cover of issue 57, in a very right-on plea for racial harmony called "Man, The Name is - Brother!" The UN even had their very own team of superheroes devised by Wally Wood for Tower Comics in the 60s. Called the THUNDER Agents (The Higher United Nations Defence Enforcement Reserves), they were led by Dynamo, dressed in the UN's blue and white colours. Rather than relying on Marvel's characters, the UN could have resurrected this team, but THUNDER Agents vanished after only 20 issues and only aging comic collectors remember them now.

Hmm...considering the peacekeeping's troubling capacity shortage, consider me all for resurrecting The Higher United Nations Defence Enforcement Reserves.

One of the original co-authors of the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect weighs in on the debate over whether or not the situation in Myanmar warrants the invocation of R2P. Gareth Evans:

My own initial concern, and it remains a serious one, with Kouchner's invocation of the "responsibility to protect" was that, while wholly understandable as a political rallying cry - and God knows the world needs them in these situations - it had the potential to dramatically undercut international support for another great cause, to which he among others is also passionately committed, that of ending mass atrocity crimes once and for all.

The point about "the responsibility to protect" as it was originally conceived, and eventually embraced at the world summit - as I well know, as one of the original architects of the doctrine, having co-chaired the international commission that gave birth to it - is that it is not about human security generally, or protecting people from the impact of natural disasters, or the ravages of HIV-Aids or anything of that kind.

Rather, "R2P" is about protecting vulnerable populations from "genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" in ways that we have all too miserably often failed to do in the past...But here's the rub. If what the generals are now doing, in effectively denying relief to hundreds of thousands of people at real and immediate risk of death, can itself be characterised as a crime against humanity, then the responsibility to protect principle does indeed kick in. The Canadian-sponsored commission report that initiated the R2P concept in fact anticipated just this situation, in identifying one possible case for the application of military force as "overwhelming natural or environmental catastrophes, where the state concerned is either unwilling or unable to cope, or call for assistance, and significant loss of life is occurring or threatened".

Read more.

>>Sudan - The rebel Justice and Equality Movement launched an attack on a Khartoum suburb Saturday, the first time in decades that the civil war has touched the capital. The Government rebutted the attack and severed diplomatic ties with Chad, who President al-Bashir blames for fomenting the attacks. JEM, which is seeking a stronger voice for regions in Sudan's central government, fields only a few thousand soldiers compared to the government's force of 100,000. JEM leader, Khalil Ibrahim, vowed more attacks.

>>Serbia - In Serbia's general election yesterday, the President's pro-EU party, the Coalition for a European Serbia, appears to have secured a surprising victory over the anti-EU nationalists, represented by the Serbian Radical party. The Coalition did not win an outright majority, and it is still unclear whether it will be able to form a government as many smaller parties may side with the Serbian Radicals. The Socialist party, formerly led by Slobodan Milosevic, made unexpected gains and could be crucial in forming the new government. Prior to the vote, analysts had predicted that international support for Kosovo's independence would be a boon for the Serbian Radicals.

>>Lebanon - Hezbollah gunmen clashed with pro-government Druze in the mountains east of Beirut, killing 36. Hezbollah fighters overran positions of those loyal to Walid Jumblatt in the Chouf mountains before an agreement was struck for the Lebanese army to deploy in the area. The violence over the last five days, the worst since the civil war of the 1900s, has caused the Arab League to send a delegation headed by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, the Qatari foreign minister, to help end the crisis.

• All Hail the Potato
• Here We Go Again
• Burmese Junta, Now Impounding Aid
• UN Envoy: Women's Rights Critical to Liberian Development
• Burma/Myanmar and the Responsibility to Protect

Africa

• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe opposition seeks peacekeepers for run-off
• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe police arrest activists
• Sudan - Sudan 'drives Darfur rebels back'
• Sudan - Sudan severs Chad ties after Darfur rebels attack capital
• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe election may be delayed
• Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe rejects Western election observers
• Nigeria - Obasanjo denies power corruption

Americas

• Venezuela - Chavez denies charges of ties to Colombia rebels
• Venezuela - Venezuela's Chavez to buy Chinese K-8 planes
• Colombia - UK palm oil consumption fuels Colombia violence, says report
• Venezuela - Venezuela's Chavez slams Germany's Merkel comments
• Chile - Hacker posts data of 6m Chileans

Asia

• Myanmar - Myanmar Junta Still Blocking Much Cyclone Aid
• Japan - Japan wary of China's panda diplomacy
• China - Gordon Brown appeases Chinese by barring Dalai Lama from No 10
• China - China travel agents seek to cash in on torch euphoria
• China - Food prices drive China inflation
• China - Earthquake hits western China
• South Korea - Cull after bird flu hits S Korea

Europe

• Serbia - Defiant Serbia conducts elections in Kosovo
• Serbia - Pro-EU parties take surprise lead in Serbian election

Middle East

• Lebanon - Fighting spreads east of Beirut
• Israel - Embattled Israeli PM gets boost from party
• Israel - Israel aims to be at forefront of green motoring with Renault Sedan
• Israel - UN official: Basic humanitarian needs unmet in Gaza
• Israel - Egyptian mediator to meet Israelis after Hamas agrees ceasefire plan
• Israel - Israelis don't believe scandal-hit Olmert: poll
• Israel - Israel allows fuel back into Gaza
• Yemen - Yemen court sentences four Shi'ite rebels to death

In this segment of UN Plaza, Matthew Lee and I discuss the UN's response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Burma.