SC, I think the U.S. pretty much did start the U.N. It was, as I recall FDR's idea. The Rockefellers donated the land where it sits in New York. The concept of the U.N. was to create a kind of world parliament which was to have powers much greater than the league of Nations. FDR, and the Brits believed that in such a parliament we could outmaneuver totalitarian regimes such as the USSR and get things done. OF course as soon as they crested the security council where the old USSR had a veto, the UN becme little more than a debating society.

Personally I think it is a great concept, but in truth no one is really going to give up sovereignty and come under the U.N.'s thumb. That said there is a window of opportunity for the N to become active in so called "failed states" and supposedly Rice is big on Genocide, hunger etc., and we could put some focus on Africa.

For rhetorical reasons, I think it might be in the U.S. and European's interests to start talking about sections of eastern Pakistan as a "failed state" to try to bring that government to heel and allow elite US forces to go in there and knock out some of the crazies holed up there.

It might also be useful to start to divide the Muslims into one camp that wants to educate their children and have a better world from the radicals who want to impose Sharia law on everyone. Its a long slog, but you gotta start with rhetoric to get anywhere.