Between the plague and the cholera

Kieran Prendergast argues:

there is a big dynamic among the membership [of the UN] to try and keep the United States within the system [of international law] and that gives rise to a certain flexibility in accomodating (sic) U.S. concerns. The image I’ve used before when these things get very difficult may be that the choice is between the plague and the cholera. Neither is desirable, but better the cholera than the plague. So you’ve seen many instances when the United States really wanted to do something and exercised its persuasive powers, the membership was willing to go a long way to compromise—even sometimes against its better judgment.

Source:
Kieran Prendergast, “Interview with Sir Kieran Prendergast, Former UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs,” The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, VOL. 30:1 WINTER 2006, accessed 22 Aug. 2006 http://fletcher.tufts.edu/forum/30-1pdfs/prendergast.pdf.