The Bolton Archipelago

The UN General Assembly's majority vote to create a new Human Rights Council reduced US global prestige as well as some maneuvering by John Bolton, US ambassador to the UN. The US was one of only four votes opposing a plan to replace the former Commission on Human Rights, widely regarded as ineffective. Notably, the other three votes came from Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau - major beneficiaries of US cash. Others at the UN regard the new Human Rights Council as a substantial achievement despite roadblocks posed by Bolton. His contrary attitude on the new council has domestic support, largely based on incomplete information about the negotiations. Author Ian Williams argues that the US human rights record is "every bit as partisan and partial" as some of the gravest offenders who sought to render the Human Rights Commission helpless in the past. The US has a history of supporting some major human rights offenders while taking a self-righteous stance against others. Ironically, Bolton has blustered so much about reform, without any results, that US support for a nation could doom its candidacy for the new Human Rights Council. – YaleGlobal