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Helmut Volger

German UN Research Network

Helmut Volger has written and edited several books about the UN, including A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations, of which the second revised edition was published by Brill Academic Publishers in 2010. He is also a co-founder of the German UN Research Network (www.forschungskreis-vereinte-nationen.de).

The German Envoy Did a ‘Good Job’ Shaking Up the UN Security Council

• July 4, 2021

BERLIN — When Christoph Heusgen was appointed Germany’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York City in 2017, there were critical comments by foreign policy experts and journalists in our country. They voiced doubts about whether Heusgen, who had been serving as security and foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005, …

Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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A Most Influential Actor: The US Ambassador to the UN

• February 1, 2020

Everyone familiar with the United Nations knows that its relationship with its key member, the United States, has been and still is subject to far-reaching changes. The periods when the US administration and the Congress make use of the competencies of the United Nations in shaping their foreign policies depend on the administration and …

BOOKS, US-UN Relations

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Can Germany Mediate the Big-Power Divide in the UN Security Council?

• January 21, 2019

BERLIN — At the start of Germany’s sixth two-year term in the United Nations Security Council, the media attention in Germany is unusually high: numerous journalists on TV and radio are asking diplomats, politicians and foreign policy experts about their views on Germany’s role in the Council, as well as its goals and prospects …

Peace and Security, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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The UN Is Complicated, So Here is a Dictionary to Help Figure It Out

• June 2, 2018

To provide readers who want information about the United Nations that is intelligent and concise yet comprehensive is a challenging task for every author: he or she must outline a puzzling system of principal organs, specialized agencies, programs, funds, commissions and committees that produces large piles of resolutions, declarations and conventions on topics such …

BOOKS, UN Agencies

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Germany Gets What’s Fair: Some Top UN Jobs

• June 8, 2017

BERLIN — It is a widely held view in political circles here that Germany has not been adequately represented in the United Nations, apart from its relatively frequent elected membership to the Security Council, which Germany has held five times and which last year announced its candidacy for a sixth term for 2019-2020. To be …

UN Agencies, WORLDVIEWS

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UN Depository Libraries Are Facing Severe Problems

• November 17, 2016

BERLIN — Since 1946, the United Nations Depository Library Program — consisting now of more than 360 depository libraries in more than 130 countries — has provided scholars, journalists, politicians, diplomats and the broader public with access to what is called the “UN deposit.” That is, print copies of UN documents (official texts of …

General Assembly, WORLDVIEWS

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How the UN Public Information Office Works

• July 25, 2016

BERLIN — From the beginning, the member states of the United Nations understood the great significance of efficient communication: in resolution 13(I) of Feb. 13, 1946, the General Assembly established the Department of Public Information in the Secretariat and emphasized: “The United Nations cannot achieve the purposes for which it has been created unless …

WORLDVIEWS

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UN Peacekeeping: A Portrait of More Than 50 Years

• December 28, 2015

For many people in the world, the United Nations is often associated with peacekeeping, one of the most visible activities of the world body in its efforts to maintain international peace and security. Peacekeeping was created in the late 1940s and developed over decades into an ambitious instrument to contain severe political and military …

BOOKS

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What Can Save Unesco? Advice From an Insider

• December 15, 2015

Founded in 1946 with noble goals, namely “to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture,” the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has in fact achieved considerable progress, above all in assisting its member nations in providing quality basic education for children, youth …

BOOKS

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Ban Ki-moon’s Travels: Escape Hatch or Act of Diplomacy?

• July 1, 2015

BERLIN — If you take a close look at the public schedule of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it becomes evident that he travels a lot to member states, even more than his charismatic and most active predecessor Kofi Annan. Why does Ban travel so often? Some critics suggest that Ban wants to distract …

WORLDVIEWS

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New Development Goals: Can the UN Machinery Cope?

• April 19, 2015

The United Nations is now discussing in a broad consultation process the sustainable development goals: a new universal set of ambitions for economic and social development, made up of targets and indicators that all countries are expected to use to frame their agendas and policies from 2015 to 2030, to be adopted by the …

BOOKS, SDGs

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The UN Environment Program, Influential but Lacking Power

• February 5, 2015

BERLIN — The history of the United Nations Environment Program is illustrative in two respects: it reflects the changing importance of environmental issues within the UN system and it demonstrates that dedicated people in a UN organization can master the difficult task of implementing an ambitious mandate without sufficient political status, funds and personnel …

WORLDVIEWS

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Shedding Light on the Intricacies of the Security Council

• November 30, 2014

The Security Council is the most important political body of the United Nations. If you consider the council uncommunicative and dominated by the great powers, and if you search for ways to improve its democratic qualities without amending the UN Charter, you have to look at the rules of procedure of the council and …

BOOKS

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The World Trade Organization: Seeking a Fair Balance of Interests

• April 16, 2014

Working most of the time, far away from the attention of the world public, an international organization was recently in the limelight: the World Trade Organization. After lengthy negotiations on liberalization measures in world trade, which started in 2001 and dragged on because of considerable differences of opinion between the developed and the developing …

WORLDVIEWS

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Far-Reaching Changes Remake the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

• May 13, 2013

BERLIN — The fight against hunger became a primary goal of the United Nations system early on. In 1943, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened an international conference that reached agreement on the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization, and two years later, on Oct. 16, 1945, only days before the …

Humanitarian Aid, UN Agencies

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