Context and Trends
People may sometimes refer to "the will of the international community" to strengthen their own point of view or the opposite expression "the international community is divided" to explain a consensus has not yet been reached. In diplomacy and debate a case that includes this statement could be a sentiment of majoritarianism and a description of options to take action for the benefit of all countries. It is occasionally asserted that powerful countries and groups of countries use the term to describe organisations in which they play a predominant role, that might be interpreted as indifference toward other nations. The enactment of conflict or war may be claimed as an action of the "international community" by a superpower or coalition that could represent under half or less of the world's population.
A trend over the past decade ago that seems to have developed is away from a traditionally-accepted version of "international community" to one where even anti-Western or anti-Eastern interests are included, as well as interests that may not be anti-Western but also are not pro-Eastern. A debate regarding a claimed Israeli right to protect itself by ensuring that Iran does not duplicate Israeli nuclear weapons capability is a case in point. It appears that the majority of the world's nations are often more at sympathy with certain "targets" than they are with the Community's reasons for creating them.
Read more about this topic: International Community
Famous quotes containing the words context and, context and/or trends:
“Parents are led to believe that they must be consistent, that is, always respond to the same issue the same way. Consistency is good up to a point but your child also needs to understand context and subtlety . . . much of adult life is governed by context: what is appropriate in one setting is not appropriate in another; the way something is said may be more important than what is said. . . .”
—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)
“Parents are led to believe that they must be consistent, that is, always respond to the same issue the same way. Consistency is good up to a point but your child also needs to understand context and subtlety . . . much of adult life is governed by context: what is appropriate in one setting is not appropriate in another; the way something is said may be more important than what is said. . . .”
—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)
“A point has been reached where the peoples of the Americas must take cognizance of growing ill-will, of marked trends toward aggression, of increasing armaments, of shortening tempers—a situation which has in it many of the elements that lead to the tragedy of general war.... Peace is threatened by those who seek selfish power.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)