The United Nations can exert pressure on its members, but defiant leaders flout conventions, manipulate resolutions, and commit acts of aggression in the face of condemnation. So why do the UN delegates persist, and why do pressure groups continue to lobby for new international laws? Campaigns to eliminate oppression, uphold human rights, alleviate poverty, and protect a region’s cultural heritage often culminate in new laws. These projects are not so different from those of the Mesopotamian kings, who promised justice to their people by writing out sets of laws even if they were probably
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