ABSTRACT
The United Nations, unfortunately, owes key elements of its structure to an international culture which believes that military force should be recognized by the award of international power and authority. The Security Council itself, which dominates much of the work of the United Nations, operates a veto comprised of nuclear powers. Democracy should more rationally be perceived as a principle of action rather than a description which can be applied to specific forms of government. For one of the gravest threats to democracy, whether in a single country, or a group of countries, or the United Nations itself, is militarization. Moreover, any failure of democracy within a constituent section must affect the position of the whole. The reasons for this are complex, but one of the most important must be the extent and as importantly the power of militarization, which acts as a serious constraint on democratic action.
