Thomas G. Weiss

Thomas G. Weiss is Presidential Professor of Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center; co-chair of the Cultural Heritage at Risk Project, J. Paul Getty Trust; Distinguished Fellow of Global Governance at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; and Global Eminence Scholar, Kyung Hee University, Korea. His recent books include "The 'Third' United Nations," (with Tatiana Carayannis).

WORLDVIEWS

What Now, António?

Thomas G. Weiss

• June 16, 2021

António Guterres soon will be recrowned Secretary-General after Manhattan’s five-member Electoral College, the permanent members of the Security Council, send its recommendation to the General Assembly for a ceremonial vote. In 2016, his election was an unusually transparent process — at least by United Nations standards — with contenders vetted by the General Assembly; …

Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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COVID-19

Can the “Third UN” Reimagine Post-Covid Global Cooperation?

Tatiana Carayannis and Thomas G. Weiss

• October 19, 2020

This week we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the Covid-19 pandemic highlights our interdependence and the need for global cooperation. Enthusiasm for it, however, is in short supply amid deteriorating Washington-Beijing relations, Brexit and rising populisms. Throughout its history, the UN has confronted bureaucratic challenges and radical changes in world …

Climate and Environment, Covid-19, Governance, Health and Population, WORLDVIEWS

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UN75

Will the UN Make It to 100?

Thomas G. Weiss

• June 2, 2020

Seventy-five years ago this month, delegates in San Francisco signed the United Nations Charter. Anniversary events were supposed to culminate in the commemoration of the entry into force of the world organization’s constitution on Oct. 24. That, of course, was before Covid-19 turned the world upside-down. Like school and university commencements, the UN’s celebration …

UN75, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

A Plea for Multilateralism From the Windy City

Thomas G. Weiss

• April 15, 2020

CHICAGO — American cities have an intimate association with the United Nations. That relationship started in San Francisco 75 years ago later this month and continues today and, one hopes, tomorrow in the New York and Washington headquarters for the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions. Chicago is my sabbatical base and an intriguing …

Covid-19, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN Is Under Siege, So Where Is the Secretary-General?

Thomas G. Weiss

• September 18, 2018

Was it only two years ago that so many people were elated by the appointment of António Guterres as secretary-general of the United Nations? After public debates organized by the president of the General Assembly and informal ones by the 1-for-7-Billion “Find the Best UN Leader” coalition, he emerged as the top candidate in …

Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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Financing the UN: Payers, Pipers and Tunes

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• December 7, 2017

GENEVA — Change is in the air again on First Avenue. Among numerous reform options being bandied about, none will be more consequential than those on financing the United Nations system. There are the sledgehammer arguments: drastic slashes in funding by Washington and other donors could precipitate dramatic change. As we have argued in …

UN Agencies, World Bank

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An SDG Fund: Supporting the 2030 UN Development Agenda

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• May 14, 2017

There is an ongoing process of change in the United Nations development system, albeit a slow one given the size of the challenges. At the country level, more UN country teams (UNCTs) are endorsing the principles of Delivering as One, which have spread from the original eight pilot countries. There is evidence of more …

Development, Sustainable Development Goals

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WORLDVIEWS

Advice to António Guterres: A Leaner UN Could Be a Better UN

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• March 27, 2017

GENEVA — Whether or not he is a fan of Chinese characters, António Guterres will have to discover the double meaning of a crisis as opportunity. United Nations corridors on First Avenue in New York are buzzing with anxiety about the possibility of impending cuts in funding from the United States, with hints from …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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The UN’s Ninth Secretary-General Takes Office Amid Loud Calls for Change

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• January 19, 2017

António Guterres, the new United Nations secretary-general, was chosen on merit and takes over the UN during an especially turbulent period and after a decade of low-key leadership and low staff morale. The “first” UN of governments includes the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council (P-5) that are stoking conflict, flouting international humanitarian …

Secretary-General

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WORLDVIEWS

Revisiting the 1942-1945 United Nations

Thomas G. Weiss

• June 9, 2015

The 70th anniversary of the signing and entry into force of the United Nations Charter should draw attention to the 1942-45 United Nations Alliance that gave rise to the world body and the underpinnings of contemporary global governance. While anniversaries are in some ways an artificial “hook,” they are nonetheless a way not to forget. …

WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Next Best in 2016? The UN Secretary-General Must Be a Reformer

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• December 9, 2014

GENEVA — For only the second time — the first was in 1996 — the electoral campaigns for the American president and the United Nations secretary-general are running in parallel. Both promise to be long and protracted. Each already has a growing slate of presumptive candidates pounding flesh and employing lobbyists. But the next …

WORLDVIEWS

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How Is the UN’s Development Machinery Perceived? Does Anyone Care?

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• August 22, 2014

One year ago, the report of a high-level panel of world leaders and renowned development specialists proposed 12 goals and 50 indicators for the United Nation’s post-2015 agenda. These were already unwieldy numbers, but after a year and a half of juggling and negotiations, member states in New York on the Open Working Group …

Development

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN Development Program: A New Crisis or a New Opportunity?

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• June 10, 2014

GENEVA — For those with longer memories, the latest dip in resources for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the staff cutbacks and restructuring announced by its administrator, Helen Clark, in May are merely the onset of another cycle, just in time for the agency’s 50th anniversary but part of its history since …

WORLDVIEWS

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New Development Goals, Plus Ça Change?

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• September 2, 2013

“If we want things to change, some things will have to stay as they are.” This inversion of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa‘s aphorism summarizes a key finding of a recent global survey on the future development goals. A select group of development commentators favors maintaining most of the familiar Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after …

Development

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Can the UN Regional Commissions Survive?

Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

• April 8, 2013

Are the numerous United Nations regional commissions worthwhile? The first such commission sprang up in Europe, amid the aftermath of World War II, when a Polish-inspired resolution, passed by the General Assembly in 1947 to organize the recovery of the continent, led to the creation of the Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva. Soon, …