Geopolitics

• May 29, 2017

When the White House sent its proposed 2018 budget to the United States Congress on May 23, it was apparent that not only would a hawkish, nationalistic focus on military expenditures come at the cost of international aid and support for the United Nations. Worse, the Trump plan would also sideline discussions on global …

Africa, Gender Violence, Geopolitics, Health and Population, Humanitarian Aid, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Did Equatorial Guinea Bribe Its Way to a UN Security Council Seat?

Kacie Candela

• May 23, 2017

Amid the predominantly Francophone region in West Africa is tiny Spanish-speaking Equatorial Guinea, a country blessed — or cursed — with vast oil reserves. For most of its independent life, the country has been ruled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has the distinction of being the longest-serving nonroyal head of state in …

Africa, Geopolitics, Human Rights, Poverty, Security Council

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GEOPOLITICS

UN Is Examining Its Security Policies After Murders in Congo

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 21, 2017

A board of inquiry looking into major gaps or flaws in United Nations security policies that might have contributed to the murders of two UN experts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was set up May 1, according to documents not released to the public yet. The board is to travel to the …

Africa, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, Security Council

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GEOPOLITICS

Who Is Paolo Zampolli, a Trump Friend, and What’s He Up To at the UN?

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 5, 2017

Who is Paolo Zampolli and what does he want from the United Nations? A friend of Donald Trump’s for decades, Zampolli is an ambassador of Dominica to the UN. He has a busy Twitter page, Facebook page and Instagram account, where he posts photos of himself and his wife, Amanda Ungaro, a model from Brazil …

Geopolitics, UN Diplomats, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

At UN Session on North Korea, the US Shows It’s Back

Barbara Crossette

• April 28, 2017

Speaking to the United Nations Security Council at a meeting on North Korea held at the foreign-minister level, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked member countries to join the United States in a strong campaign to enhance pressures on the Kim Jong Un regime, whose rapidly developing nuclear and missile programs have reached dangerous levels. …

Asia, Geopolitics, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Canada Is Still Wavering in Its Pledge to UN Peacekeeping

Julie Vanderperre

• April 20, 2017

Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in a splashy way right after his 2015 election to “renew Canada’s commitment to United Nations peace operations,” the country’s contribution to peacekeeping remains at an all-time low. Since Trudeau’s seemingly impetuous campaign promise a year and a half ago, allies and UN member states have anticipated a …

Africa, Geopolitics, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Can António Guterres Fend Off Trump’s War on the UN?

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 10, 2017

When António Guterres was chosen by the United Nations Security Council in October to become the next leader of the UN, neither he nor anyone else could have predicted precisely who would be commanding the Oval Office of the White House in January 2017, just as Guterres’s term opened. Now that Donald Trump has …

Geopolitics, Secretary-General, Security Council, Syria, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Russia and US Clash on Syria in the UN Security Council, Once Again

Barbara Crossette

• April 7, 2017

Russia called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday, a day after the United States launched a missile attack in Syria. But Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, faced a tough response from the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who castigated the Russians for supporting …

Geopolitics, Security Council, Syria

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GEOPOLITICS

The US Leaving the UN Human Rights Council Would Be a Mistake: An Envoy Talks

Barbara Crossette

• March 21, 2017

As the Trump administration threatens to turn its back on international organizations unwilling to rubber-stamp Washington’s policies and meet its demands, an early inevitable target is expected to be the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva. In both the White House and Congress, opposition to the Council hangs on two …

Geopolitics, Human Rights, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

US Mission to the UN: Do Not Release Vitaly Churkin’s Autopsy Report

Dr. Catherine Mullaly

• March 12, 2017

Four days after Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin’s sudden death in New York City last month, the United States Mission to the United Nations wrote to the New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs and requested a communications blackout on Churkin’s autopsy findings and cause of death. The result of this request means that …

Geopolitics, UN Diplomats, UN-NY Relations, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Jerusalem Has Always Been a Contested City

Irwin Arieff

• March 7, 2017

The long-simmering dispute over the fate of Jerusalem stands at the center of the Middle East conflict. Israelis and Palestinians, divided on many points, become most emotional when discussing the future of the walled, ancient crossroads city that is holy to three world religions. So international diplomats took notice when foreign policy neophyte Donald …

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

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GEOPOLITICS

Seeking a Path for Jerusalem: A Chronology

Irwin Arieff

• March 7, 2017

Here is a brief political history of Jerusalem, in timeline format, dating from the earliest human settlement to the present. The chronology is selective, focusing primarily on the development of competing visions over the years of the ancient city’s past and future. The timeline accompanies a separate article, “Jerusalem’s Fate: Myth Versus Reality,” by …

Geopolitics, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Can a Trusteeship Rescue South Sudan? Unlikely, Experts Say

Julie Vanderperre

• February 22, 2017

The intense civil conflict in South Sudan that broke out in December 2013 and has brought the world’s youngest nation to the edge of genocide has not subsided, with no solution in sight. Once more, the United Nations Security Council will meet to discuss the newest status report from the UN Secretariat, as President …

Africa, Gender Violence, Geopolitics, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Feelings Hurt, Yemeni-Americans in New York City Protest the Trump Immigration Ban

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 2, 2017

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Thousands of Yemeni-Americans in New York City turned out to peacefully — if not passionately — protest the White House ban on immigrants entering the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. The protesters waved American and Yemeni flags, shouting slogans like “United we stand against the Muslim ban.” Held …

Geopolitics, Libya, Middle East, Migration, Refugees, Syria, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Take a Look: Global Refugee Law and US Areas Affected Most by Trump Ban

Barbara Crossette

• January 31, 2017

The public furor and enormous protests by many thousands of Americans nationwide have led experts to try to explain where the decisions made by Donald Trump fall short of legality in both national and international law. From Hollywood to the world of sports to the corridors of the United States Congress, people are saying …