UN Security Council to vote on Strait of Hormuz

[Twiglets1]

The UN Security Council’s vote on a proposal to ensure the safety of ships in the Strait of Hormuz has been rescheduled from Friday to Saturday, according to media reports.

The council’s 15 members are set to vote on a resolution from Bahrain aimed at protecting commercial shipping in the critical waterway, which usually carries about one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies.

The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies have reported that a draft resolution includes text authorising countries “to use all defensive means necessary” to protect commercial shipping.

The proposal is considered unlikely to pass, as China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the council, has made it clear that it opposes any resolution that mentions the use of force.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/4/2/iran-war-live-trump-to-address-nation-tehran-denies-seeking-ceasefire

This index backs up my point that the UK is a full democracy @RedTagAlan and every other index (there are several) also puts the UK in the democracy camp. I don't know why you would bother to question this.

You said before that you live somewhere that limits access to full information, though you seem to read a lot of sources for someone with limited access. Maybe that affects how you see democracy but we have a huge amount of freedom around free speech in the UK (just not hate speech).

I made a point when I posted that link that different indexes used different metrics and get different results. I not repeat that here as I rather took that as a given that people knew that.

Even though the stats stopped at 2024, I could not help but notice the trend.

Yes, a joke between be and my friends on XI, "is do nothing and win". Meaning his strategic patience knowing that China is on America's list to be "contained" is fascinating. I am more hot headed, so if I were China my flags would be flying in Taiwan right now. However XI seems to be pursuing a slowly, slowly they'll rejoin naturally process aka the 100 year plan.

Trump has inadvertently helped with this, by failing to protect the GCC countries from attack he's proved that American security guarantees are all but useless.

Additionally by moving the Air Defence systems from South Korea to the Middle East.

Thankfully a lot of debate is happening in Asia with many countries realising that America may be the problem, the US needs a reason to justify their military spending and bases, so perhaps they help sow the discord that creates these problems?

Show me a reputable index that doesn't class the UK as a democracy.

Thank you for the explanation. I had looked it up but wasn't sure it applied in the specific case.

I am gonna disagree with you re much of what you say re the PRC I am afraid.

There is very much a very active spat going on with Japan just now, things the Japanese PM said about TW. And re WW2, the Party does not allow it to be forgotten. There were horrors. And for the CPC it is not over.

Re US troops in Japan. The PRC did claim Okinawa. Then they dropped their claim, but there is a possible build up to the claim being made again.

Yes, this is the time for Uncle Xi to plan to take TW. All thanks to Trump not having a clue. Yup, "take back" should be in parenthesis, because it was never part of the PRC. And nor was the South China Sea.

But not enough space here, and likely too far off topic :-)

I don’t think that exists. They’ll all show the same re U.K. being a democracy.

Interesting, thank you.

I totally agree with you on this.

'One of the Colonel's that I listen to said that a mistake we make in the West when thinking about our "adversaries" is that we attribute behaviour to them that we would do. Example: Logically now would be the best time for XI to "take back" Taiwan as that's what we would do'

and this in your subsequent post:

Yes, a joke between be and my friends on XI, "is do nothing and win". Meaning his strategic patience knowing that China is on America's list to be "contained" is fascinating. I am more hot headed, so if I were China my flags would be flying in Taiwan right now. However XI seems to be pursuing a slowly, slowly they'll rejoin naturally process aka the 100 year plan.

The West fails to understand other cultures repeatedly and also assumes that they are superior in every regard. It is a serious flaw. I certainly don't pretend to have an understanding of lots of cultures but I am a mixture of European and Asian myself so have more understanding than many Brits and am generally more open minded in this regard. I expect you have heard this Chinese proverb, attributed to Sun Tzu: 'If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by'. This and what you said above are great concepts.

I should have said sorry, it might not be a correct term. It's something we talk about in a group I am in. But the term works I think. "vote harvesting" might be better though ?

Yup… it’s a strange thing for someone to question. Just because the UK is starting to take a stricter stance on hate speech or marching in support of terrorists that doesn’t somehow mean we’re no longer a democracy.

Living in a democracy doesn’t mean you can say and do exactly what you want! No functioning society allows that.

Democracy ? But we were discussing authoritarianism.

Anyway, I don't think I can. Because... ahem... limited internet. I am amazed I got that authoritarianism index as it is.

It’s also odd to go there in response to proscription laws. We have an effective legal system and framework to deal with support for those orgs, and we’re a democracy.

Threads are bestest when they stray into more interesting territory.😎

@Twiglets1 what @RedTagAlan is saying about democracy is that it hangs on the parameters used for definition in the index. I would add that methodology is also relevant.
As an aside re definitions, China is now being described as an example of 'authoritarian capitalism'. From what I witnessed there in 2008, I agree.

Disclaimer, before I get accused of something or another again. 🙄
I believe that the UK is fighting to remain a functioning democracy but several undemocratic practices do exist. #fptp

And @Twiglets1is asking for a reputable index that uses any other parameters that underpins their thinking.

Didn't @RedTagAlan explain why they couldn't comply with the request?

On undemocratic UK institutions. The House of Lords.

It might be useful to look at what the word Democracy actually means. It means 'people rule' or 'power of the people'.

This implies that the country is governed in a way that the majority approve of; that the politicians acively pursue policies that represent the citizens's wishes. It also means that everyone is equal in front of the law and also involves freedom of speech.

I would argue that these tenants of democracy no longer apply to most Western countries without reservation.
There is a strong likelihood that the US and other Western countries will become more authoritarian as time goes on and the governments continue to fail.
This is all very much following the pattern of a Fourth Turning so, frustrating and upsetting as it is, it is expected.

No. There’s nothing stopping the pp posting the name of a reputable index that shows what they think is the case.

The UK is a democracy in any reputable index despite posters listing various elements.

We don't need 'a reputable index' or a large quote from The Telegraph in order to debate and consider this topic or other topics. They don't disprove the points being raised. See my post above.

This is currently the clearest index on the thread. If someone has one they think is better then it can be posted of course.

@RedTagAlan you said 75% of the worlds population live in authoritarian countries. And I would hate to see the UK join them. in terms of freedom of speech being controlled, or even difference of opinion being frowned upon.

The UK is in no danger of joining the list of authoritarian countries. They are at the opposite end of the scale (as indexes show) in being classified as a full democracy.

What ‘large quote from the Telegraph’ are you following other threads closely?

The pp said the index below was flawed, happy to see a better one or any that says the U.K. isn’t a democracy.

Thanks, I hadn't heard the Sun Tzu quote, I absolutely love it. It's a virtue that I'm still trying to learn and put in practice as it takes a lot of discipline and forward thinking, kind of like chess.

On the West failing to understand other cultures, fully agree with you. Even I was like this, 5 years ago I was shouting about the CCP coming to take over the World, how they're every move they made was to become the number one hegemon and they oppress everyone in China🫣 (thanks Miles Guo).

I had to address my own prejudices that had been fed by the media I was consuming, from news to movies (funnily enough movie villians are often the group that we currently must hate aka Soviets, North Koreans). Thankfully Social Media has allowed us to connect more easily and now I try to ask people in different countries to tell me their stories and my understanding and empathy is much improved as well as the richness of my life. Seeing the Chinese users on Rednote trolling, joking, memeing just like we do did far more for International relations!.

Fun fact regarding the latest Top Gun: "Top Gun: Maverick does not explicitly name the enemy nation, keeping it intentionally vague to avoid specific geopolitical conflicts. However, the plot—a mission to destroy an illegal uranium enrichment site—and the enemy's use of aging F-14 Tomcats strongly suggest a fictionalized, composite adversary inspired by Iran"

So yes it's a superiority complex, that aims to keep us divided. Thankfully most ordinary people are breaking out of this matrix.

Erm. There is.

I think some are losing track of the law on this anyway. We have ok laws on speech, often changed a bit but really as democracies go we are a robust voting bunch and push back and get things dropped if too onerous.

It’s the proscription laws that are very inhibiting and effective. They work very well to clamp down on online and offline support, that won’t change.