The hits just keep on coming for the anti-racism Durban Review Conference scheduled to kick off next week. Germany will join Australia, Canada, the United States, and Italy in boycotting the conference. I think it is safe to say that our expectations about what this conference will achieve should be substantially lowered. As in other UN forums, a disunified Europe plus non-participation by the commonwealth and the United States generally means that more regressive regional blocs will hold sway. Such is the consequence of non-participation. Things could get ugly next week.
