THE VETO

The United States president enjoys the power of a veto, just as the members of the security council in the United Nations do, but the power of the president is not absolute - it can be overridden by a super- majority in congress. This has proved workable over the years in curbing the excesses of presidents who may be out of touch with a large majority of the representatives of the people. Such a system should be employed by the world body, which urgently needs to curb the excesses of powerful state interests in world affairs. If two-thirds, or some other number of a majority of nations represented in the general assembly, could vote to defeat the veto exercised by a security council member, the United Nations might finally become useful in improving the behavior of nations of the world.

Failing this, the only way forward will be to eliminate the veto - or the whole security council - which seems more unlikely than the prospect of limiting the absolute power of its members.