No Fun in the Sun

Does the free world need another United Nations? Well, it had one, briefly. It was the International Youth Year Conference, a gathering of more than a thousand young people from more than a hundred nations of the non-Communist world, held over Easter in Kingston, Jamaica.

Abstractly considered, it seemed like a good idea: a junior-varsity UN called, in the words of Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga, “to examine first principles . . . and to prepare action plans for the advancement of the ideals and principles of parliamentary democracy.” More particularly, the notion was to counter the vast Soviet world- youth apparatus, which will bring ninety thousand socialist, Communist, and Third World young people to Moscow this summer for the 12th World Festival of Youth and Students. In practice, it proved to be a great carnival of fustian and buncombe, most of it at America’s expense.

About the Author

Charles R. Kesler

Charles R. Kesler, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, is the editor of the Claremont Review of Books.

Featured Tags

Does the free world need another United Nations? Well, it had one, briefly. It was the International Youth Year Conference, a gathering of more than a thousand young people from more than a hundred nations of the non-Communist world, held over Easter in Kingston, Jamaica.

Abstractly considered, it seemed like a good idea: a junior-varsity UN called, in the words of Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga, “to examine first principles . . . and to prepare action plans for the advancement of the ideals and principles of parliamentary democracy.” More particularly, the notion was to counter the vast Soviet world- youth apparatus, which will bring ninety thousand socialist, Communist, and Third World young people to Moscow this summer for the 12th World Festival of Youth and Students. In practice, it proved to be a great carnival of fustian and buncombe, most of it at America’s expense.