They voted against Palestine

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Palestine’s friends rejoice in the overwhelming victory at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, 29.11.2012 when the 138 UN member states voted to give Palestine observer status at the UN. 41 countries abstained, while nine countries voted against.

Nine rings for mortal men…

Source: Wikipedia 2012
Source: Wikipedia 2012

Who were these nine?

The United States and Israel voted against, which was not exactly a bomb, to use a terminology the two countries understand well. But the four in the middle, ie Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau, who are they? There are island nations in the Pacific and together they have fewer residents than the city of Bergen in Norway. But otherwise?

Marshall Islands: The country has a GDP of $ 115 million a year, of which 57.7 million paid by the United States. Currency: U.S. dollar.

Micronesia: The country has a GDP of $ 341 million a year, of which 90 million is paid by the U.S.. Currency: U.S. dollar.

Nauru: Nauru once had the world’s highest GDP per capita. That was when the country was a single phosphate mine. Now the mines have been exhausted and the country has a GDP of $ 36.9 million a year. A significant part of the economy is funded by Australia in exchange for that country accept asylum seekers expelled from Australia. Currency: AUS dollar.

Palau: The country has a GDP of $ 164 million a year, of which 155.8 million paid by the United States. Currency: U.S. dollar.

With the exception of Nauru, the phosphate mine turned asylum, these are countries that do not have a choice. Their UN votes are pre-paid.

What about Panama?

The country’s economy is completely integrated in the dollar economy. The currency is called the Balboa, but one balboa = one U.S. dollar. 80% of the economy is service industries, mostly related to the Panama Canal. It is not stretching it one bit to say that this is a country that does not have a choice.

So if we exclude those countries that do not have any choice; the entire diplomatic catch of the United States and Israel consist of two countries: Canada and the Czech Republic. What a feat! And it must be added that on the list of high-income countries that receive financial support from the U.S., Canada and the Czech Republic are third and fourth after Israel and Poland.

It must be allowed to gloat a little bit? Closer to a total diplomatic failure is it hard to get.

«One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.»

But it seems that Sauron has lost some of his powers lately…

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Pål Steigan. f. 1949 har jobbet med journalistikk og medier det meste av sitt liv. I 1967 var han redaktør av Ungsosialisten. I 1968 var han med på å grunnlegge avisa Klassekampen. I 1970 var han med på å grunnlegge forlaget Oktober, der han også en periode var styreleder. Steigan var initiativtaker til og første redaktør av tidsskriftet Røde Fane (nå Gnist). Fra 1985 til 1999 var han leksikonredaktør i Cappelens forlag og utga blant annet Europas første leksikon på CD-rom og internettutgaven av CAPLEX i 1997. Han opprettet bloggen steigan.no og ga den seinere til selskapet Mot Dag AS som gjorde den til nettavis. Steigan var formann i AKP(m-l) 1975–84. Steigan har skrevet flere bøker, blant annet sjølbiografien En folkefiende (2013).