Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs
Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs

BLUE SMOKE: A new monthly newsletter, from PassBlue and UNA–UK, which shines a spotlight on senior appointments at the UN

Disarmament

Ambassador Kimihiro Ishikane of Japan says his country’s new defense strategy of increasing its military might reflects the need to change the security architecture based on the current environment in East Asia. Yet Ishikane, who spoke to PassBlue on…
 
It was UN day this week! Hurray!! We saw schoolchildren around the world celebrate the creation of the organization on Oct. 24, 1945, and we also took a cue from the message of the UN secretary-general. You are reading…
 
Think about a weapon that once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. This might sound like science fiction, but autonomous weapons systems, also called killer robots, are being deployed in real time. The Turkish STM…
 
The war in Ukraine has caused severe disruptions to regional and global security, including raising concerns about the potential use of unconventional weapons. Not least of these concerns is the dangerous Russian disinformation campaign alleging biological weapons development in Ukraine,…
 
This week, our focus is on the continuing efforts of the United Nations to reduce civilian casualties in different pockets of unrest across the globe. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization….
 
In 2020, during one of the worst global pandemics in recent history, killing more than three million people that year from the Covid-19 virus, nine nuclear-armed countries spent $72.6 billion on bolstering and modernizing their arsenals, at a rate…
 
THE HAGUE — An international agreement that bans nuclear weapons became operational on Jan. 22, more than 75 years after the detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki heralded the atomic age. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or…
 
Since its founding 75 years ago, the United Nations has proven, with the support of its member countries and other partners, its worth in complex problem-solving. That includes preventing great-power wars, remedying humanitarian emergencies, safeguarding human rights and reducing…
 
A “permanent” cease-fire is reached in Libya; Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City declines to meet with the president of the UN General Assembly; and what’s going on behind closed-door meetings at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban…
 
VIENNA — For the first time in its 24-year history, state parties to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a multilateral agreement that bans all nuclear testing worldwide, have taken a controversial decision by a two-thirds majority. Decisions in the…
 
Only days before the United States said it would submit a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council to extend an Iran arms embargo, the American envoy for Iran has resigned. Brian Hook, who also held the post as…
 
For the ninth year in a row, 90 percent of people killed by explosive weapons in urban areas were civilians. The use of these devices is proliferating in conflicts because they are becoming easier to come by — sometimes…
 
VIENNA — As Russian and American leaders have gathered once more here to discuss bilateral arms control, some experts wonder if arms control is outdated. Earlier this year, Chris Ford, a United States official for international security and nonproliferation,…
 
VIENNA, Austria — Ensconced near the Danube River in this European city is the headquarters of the world’s single-most important means of ensuring safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear energy. Created in 1957, four years after United States…
 
While Turkey has carried out its plan to invade northeast Syria and the United Nations Security Council has failed to react in a unified way, Russia and Iran have been making their own moves in the UN headquarters in…
 
The Women's History Month Quiz from PassBlue: A quiz about women and the UN
Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs

THIS WEEK'S MOST POPULAR

Global Connections Television - The only talk show of its kind in the world

Don't Miss a Story:

Subscribe to PassBlue

Sign up to get the smartest news on the UN by email, joining readers across the globe.​

We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously​