by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
NRO’s\u00a0The Corner<\/em><\/p>\n If the UN now has the right and duty to intervene, in a morally relative manner, in territorial disputes between various groups and grant\u00a0de facto<\/em>sovereignty, then the sky is the limit. Why go through the motions of two-party discussions at all?<\/p>\n Why not just declare Turkish-controlled Cyprus a legitimate nation? Maybe the UN could unilaterally announce the Falklands to be the Argentine Malvinas, or wade into Ossetia to redraw the borders between Russia and Georgia?<\/p>\n If East Jerusalem is the new capital, then perhaps divided Nicosia can be declared once and for all the capital of Turkish Cyprus. Will China get the U.N. green light to annex Taiwan? Perhaps U.N. luminaries like Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba can help decide which parts of Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq belong to a soon-to-be-autonomous Kurdistan.<\/p>\n The discussions between Spain and Catalonia are stalemated; what better way to restart them than for the UN to save us the hassle and declare an independent Catalonia \u2014 and why not a UN-approved Basque homeland as well? And to be fair to soon-to-be-smaller Spain, the UN might grant it sovereignty over British-occupied Gibraltar. Germany of today hardly resembles Bismarck\u2019s original state; now that the passions of 1945 have cooled, can we return to the questions of Danzig and the unlawful annexation and absorption of East Prussia? The UN never finished its job in Korea, why not return and craft a \u201csingle-state\u201d solution by imposing unification on the two squabbling parties, whose cycles of violence and immature bickering seem to have no end? If the UN can unilaterally declare an independent Palestine, are not Tibet\u2019s aspirations far more compelling \u2014 and deserving of a unilateral UN resolution declaring Lhasa the new capital?<\/p>\n \u00a92012 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Victor Davis Hanson NRO’s\u00a0The Corner If the UN now has the right and duty to intervene, in a morally relative manner, in territorial disputes between various groups and grant\u00a0de factosovereignty, then the sky is the limit. Why go through the motions of two-party discussions at all?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[121],"tags":[1039,1040,122,1041,1037,125,1038],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2U","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7768,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/7768\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":0},"title":"On Cyprus, the World Is Silent","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Because Turkey is not Israel. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online Limassol, Cyprus\u00a0\u2014 Cyprus is a beautiful island. But it has never recovered from the Turkish invasion of 1974. Turkish troops still control nearly 40 percent of the island \u2014 the most fertile and formerly the richest portion.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Middle East"","block_context":{"text":"The Middle East","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A U.N. peacekeeper in the buffer zone in Anatolia, Cyprus. (Andrew-Caballero-Reynolds) Photo via NRO","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/pic_giant_081414_SM_Cyprus-Bufer-Zone-G.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1553,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-new-wannabe-ottomans\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":1},"title":"The New Wannabe Ottomans","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services A\u00a0Turkish Islamic group \u2014 the \"Humanitarian Relief Foundation,\" often associated by Western intelligence agencies with terrorist sponsorship \u2014 orchestrated the recent Gaza flotilla. It was hoping for the sort of violent, well-publicized confrontation with the Israeli navy that later followed. Turkish Prime Minister\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "June 2010"","block_context":{"text":"June 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/june-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1676,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-pathology-of-double-standards\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":2},"title":"The Pathology of Double Standards","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton FrontPage Magazine The surreal moral idiocy that characterizes hatred of Israel is illustrated daily by states whose actions are shrugged away by the international media. Consider the recent Turkish invasion of northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish militants who killed 24 soldiers at military posts near\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Israel"","block_context":{"text":"Israel","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/israel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3675,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/talking-with-rouge-states\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":3},"title":"Talking with Rouge States","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Why the U.S. should stay away. by Victor Davis Hanson USA Today The following counter-opinion piece appeared in the March 1st issue of\u00a0USA Today. America should attend regional talks that may include Syria and Iran, in support of stabilizing the democracy in Iraq. But the United States should not negotiate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "March 2007"","block_context":{"text":"March 2007","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2007\/march-2007\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10111,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/what-happened-to-the-special-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":4},"title":"What Happened to the \u2018Special Relationship\u2019?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Corner The one and only. by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Not all that long ago we were lectured that Obama, with his charisma and savvy, had won over Recep Tayyip Erdogan and formed a new partnership with him that would lead to Middle East stability and a new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Putin"","block_context":{"text":"Putin","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/putin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8875,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/erdogans-turkey-is-a-dubious-ally\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":5},"title":"Erdogan’s Turkey is a Dubious Ally","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Tribune Media Services Turkey often appeals to the West for support, given its longtime membership in NATO. Now, Turkish leadership is in a shouting match with Russia\u2019s provocative president, Vladimir Putin, over Turkey\u2019s downing of a Russian jet in probable Turkish airspace. Each country has\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/erdogans-turkey-is-a-dubious-ally\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Erdogan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5719,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/5719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}