Geopolitics

• May 28, 2018

From the start, it was a closely watched contest pitting Germany, Belgium and Israel against one another for their regional bloc’s two seats in the next term on the United Nations Security Council. Israel has never held a seat on the Council, and as it celebrates its 70-year membership in the UN in 2018, the …

General Assembly, Geopolitics, Middle East, Security Council

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GEOPOLITICS

John Bolton Cracks the Whip on the UN Mission in Western Sahara

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 15, 2018

The message was blunt and judgmental as the United States delivered its ultimatum on the future of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara: “MINURSO is a peacekeeping mission that should have finished its job a long time ago. This is a mission that began 27 years ago almost to the day. This was …

Africa, Geopolitics, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

A New Peace-Building Podcast Series Delves Into East Africa’s Complexities

Joe Penney

• May 8, 2018

A new series called “Peacebuilders,” offering a weekly podcast of interviews with a diverse array of African and other professionals on vital issues they confront in their work in East Africa, has been introduced by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The nine-part series debuted on May 1, with the first one focused on …

Africa, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping

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GEOPOLITICS

Fake News and the UN: An Item Since 1945

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• April 30, 2018

In the world of fake news, the United Nations has been a prime target since it opened its doors in 1945. These days, spending just a few minutes on Facebook and Twitter, two sites located at the epicenter of the fake news epidemic, reveals claims — real and imagined — pushed by critics of …

Geopolitics, Journalists

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GEOPOLITICS

Confronting Possible Gas Attacks in Syria, the UN Security Council Succumbs to Chaos

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 13, 2018

In a week of reversals, semireversals and blatant backtracking by some of the most powerful countries on earth, diplomacy showed its head-spinning underside in the United Nations Security Council, as three Western allies — Britain, France and the United States — conveyed their outrage against Russia for its perceived role in allowing the Syrian …

Disarmament, Geopolitics, Middle East, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Is the New UN Envoy for Yemen Destined for Failure?

Chris Gelardi

• March 5, 2018

Martin Griffiths, the new United Nations special envoy for Yemen and a British international mediator, will begin work this month on a war that is called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Griffiths is highly praised in the arena of private conflict mediation, having founded his own firm in 1999 that has brokered resolutions to …

Geopolitics, Middle East, UN Special Envoys

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GEOPOLITICS

In Africa, Where the Pain of Trump’s ‘Racist’ Comments Runs Deep

Barbara Crossette

• January 17, 2018

In the United States, the reaction to the bigoted comments that President Donald Trump made on Jan. 11 about black-majority nations in Africa didn’t take long to shift its focus to domestic American politics, obscuring the shock of those abroad who have been maligned. Around the world, a very different story is taking shape. …

Africa, Caribbean, Geopolitics, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

China’s Notions of UN Reform: Filling the Growing Vacuum Left by the US

Kacie Candela

• January 3, 2018

China has presented its position on United Nations reform, and it aligns with Secretary-General António Guterres’s own agenda. It pushes for practicalities, such as a transparent process, a stronger peace and security pillar, streamlined internal management and more geographic diversity in hiring practices in peacekeeping and the UN Secretariat. “The world is undergoing major …

Asia, Development, Geopolitics, Peace and Security

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GEOPOLITICS

Words Ring Hollow From the UN After Attacks on Peacekeepers

Susan Manuel

• December 27, 2017

The horrific attack on United Nations peacekeepers from Tanzania in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in early December and the ensuing hours-long battle was a severe blow to one of the UN’s more prized forces, leaving 15 soldiers dead. But the UN was already so concerned with a rise in peacekeeper fatalities — …

Africa, Asia, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping

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GEOPOLITICS

The Art of Infinite Patience: Searching for Peace in South Sudan

Kacie Candela

• December 26, 2017

The South Sudan Council of Churches is an umbrella organization for seven Christian denominations — African Inland Church, Catholic, Episcopal, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Evangelical Presbyterian and Sudan Interior Church — working on peace and reconciliation in South Sudan and based in Juba, the capital. The country has been fighting a civil war for exactly four …

Africa, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping

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GEOPOLITICS

David Miliband on Our Duty to the Strangers in Our Midst: Refugees

Barbara Crossette

• December 19, 2017

David Miliband, a former British foreign secretary, has been president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee since 2013, overseeing both the agency’s humanitarian relief operations and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs in several American cities. The son of European refugees from Nazi Germany, he just published his first book, “Rescue: Refugees and …

Geopolitics, Poverty, Refugees

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GEOPOLITICS

Is the US Going to Drop Out of the UN Human Rights Council?

Barbara Crossette

• December 17, 2017

Palestinian causes in the United Nations are gaining wider and more active support in the Arab and Islamic worlds in light of Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, in defiance of global opinion and decades of UN resolutions. The move sets the scene for reigniting intense anti-UN activity in United States Congress. …

Geopolitics, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Loose Missiles, Loose Talk: Nikki Haley’s Claims of Iran’s ‘Lawless Behavior’

Enrico Carisch

• December 16, 2017

Why are the United States Department of Defense and the US ambassador to the United Nations acting as spokespeople for Saudi Arabia’s atrocious war against the religious Yemeni-Houthi minority? And why is Ambassador Nikki Haley throwing herself in front of the international community with laughable evidence to claim, among other statements: “The Iranian regime …

Geopolitics, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Trump’s Jerusalem Move Sparks Backlash From Powerful UN Members

Dulcie Leimbach

• December 8, 2017

In a rare step by two of America’s closest allies, Britain and France called for an emergency meeting of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council to air their concerns over the decision by Donald Trump of the United States to endorse Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The emergency meeting on …

Geopolitics, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Why Do Jihadists Exit Violent Extremism? The Field of Study Grows

Dulcie Leimbach

• November 17, 2017

The study of violent extremism and what attracts people to become jihadists has been expanding rapidly in social sciences, but what is little known is why people avoid or leave a violent movement. It is a field that is slowly growing among academics, think tanks and United Nations officials, enabling them to form policies …