Global Standards are NOT POSSIBLE

I believe that it is not possible for sovereign states to agree on global standards. Global standards could be economic or have to do more with international policy, recognition, and specific relations between countries, but either way, it is not possible. A sovereign state has a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter relations with other states, therefore, can also recognize other states (1). Some global standards have already been determined, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Geneva Conventions, and UNESCO, but these do not always function as they were meant to do.

Because of self-interest, it is not possible to have, and to abide by global standards. The Palestinian Authority, the government that now rules the West Bank and Gaza, is not considered a sovereign state. Iran, which is a sovereign state, has threatened to destroy Israel, so that Palestinians, in their mind the rightful inhabitants, can return to the land. The United States is a strong supporter of Israel in its fight agains 'Islam' and nuclear weapons and without Israel, the U.S. would have no foothold in the middle-east, and for this, Iran also does not appreciate Israel. My point with this is that Iran is an ally of Palestine, something that is not sovereign, and Iran will align itself with any of the other 54 muslim countries before FOLLOWING global standards set by the United States or the United Nations, even though we are both part of the UN. On the same thought, we entered Iraq on the pretext of discovering nuclear weapons and (North Korea and Iran are known to be producing nuclear weapons) this was for our own interest, to not be attacked. At the same time, Israel has presumably produced enough Plutonium to create 200 nuclear weapons (2). There is no evidence that they have been tested, and the weapons are supposedly for defense only, yet can't any country argue that they have the same rights to develop weapons? Where is the gray line, and who can decide where the power lies? The United States is a superpower, and dramatically affects world politics daily and therefore, we often decide who should be condemned with this behavior. The United States violated international law by bombing Iraqi air defense sites, but " the United States is the biggest bully on the block, and in this case, the law is what bully says" (3). We are both sovereign states, but the U.S. has more power internationally and we have more resources than other countries, and therefore, we will do what is in out best interest even if it violates an agreement, as will any other country.

The sovereign states of the world are individually very different economically, politically, religiously, and in any other way possible, therefore, it is not possible to forge relations that will suit everyone's needs. Trying to create global standards between sovereign states would be like trying to instill socialism on a universal scale, which is not possible. Take a country like Cuba, where the per capita income is $3,900(4), about one-twelvth that of the U.S. or Haiti with a per capita income of $1,800. We will aid a country like Haiti economically, but never enough to raise the standard of living to the U.S. standard. On top of that, we do not have good relations with Cuba and animosity continues to grow as other countries align with Fidel Castro against the U.S.

In India, overpopulation is a large problem. From our view, we say to limit the number of children and maybe most states agree with us. From the Indian perspective, countries like Bolivia and The Netherlands are just as 'crowded,' and poverty is not caused by overpopulation, so the population will continue to grow. It is impossible to force on another country the values and so-called 'rights' of a country with a completely different economic standard. How could we possibly agree on anything when we do not speak the same languages, have the same historic backgrounds or believe in the same god? In fact, I believe that the only thing we do have in common is the want to better OURSELVES. Because of this, we cannot have global standards. It is the nature of civilizations and of people to want power and to keep that power in the effort of self-interest and never will we sacrifice this power to make sure that we are following rules determined by countries that may be our enemies.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states.

2.http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/

3. http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/nofly2.htm.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba