The Defense Monitor

About the author: The Defense Monitor is the publication of the Washington, D.C.- based Center for Defense Information, an organization that evaluates the U.S. military.

The United States has long favored working with other nations to keep peace and enhance international security because this approach imposes fewer monetary and human costs on the United States than do unilateral defense efforts. In the past, the United Nations has served the United States well as a forum for these joint actions. In recent years, however, the United Nations has become mired in bureaucracy and financial mismanagement. The United States must take the lead to encourage the reforms that will allow the United Nations to remain an effective force for international peace.

Fifty years ago on June 26, 1945, 51 war-weary nations...