If humans are the problem, can humans be the solution?

September 27, 2026 — 5:30am

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Noted human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson proposed in this masthead last week that, given widespread agreement that the United Nations should replace its New York headquarters with one in the global south, Melbourne would be a good candidate.

Robertson is convinced Melbourne hosting the UN would enrich this city’s life, and the economy. Many people admire the UN despite its long record of failures – as Winston Churchill observed, jaw-jaw is better than war-war – while another commentator wrote that there is no problem the UN cannot make worse.

I incline to the latter view, not least because of the embedded handicap of the veto for the US, Russia, China, the UK and........

© The Sydney Morning Herald