"The largest summit in the history of mankind"

Over 150 heads of state and government are gathering in New York City for the UN summit marking 60 years of the world body that is due to begin tomorrow.

All signs indicate that this summit will be little more than the usual rounds of speeches and sideline diplomacy. Already the final draft on UN reforms has watered down or left out entirely key points including reform of the UN human rights body, definition of terrorism, and non-proliferation and disarmament. While the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called this "a real disgrace", the infamous new US envoy John Bolton is reported to be pleased with the result.

It is ironic, though hardly surprising, that the US, which has intermittently warned in recent years that the UN risks becoming increasingly irrelevant if it fails to reform itself, is satisfied with the current compromised agenda for the UN's future. No surprises if we see more US unilateralism in the near future, at least until election time in 2008.