Middle East

Despite Common Rejection of Trump’s Mideast Plan, Some Hope to Restart Talks

February 11, 2020

A few days after Jared Kushner, President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, met with United Nations Security Council members offsite in New York to sell the United States’ Mideast deal for peace, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came to the Council to vehemently oppose it. While Abbas’s criticisms were echoed by most members of the Council, …

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

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WORLDVIEWS

From a Royal Palace to Ivy Halls: A Dissident’s View of the Arab Spring

January 11, 2020

by Michelle Nicholasen

Hicham Alaoui was a young prince — only seven years old — in 1971, when he witnessed a devastating military coup unfold against his family inside the Moroccan royal palace. The assailants did not succeed in overturning the 350-year-old monarchy, then under the rule of his uncle, King Hassan II, but Alaoui saw his …

Middle East, US Foreign Relations

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The UN Can Do Much More to Resolve Khashoggi’s Murder, Says Agnès Callamard

October 2, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

Exactly a year after Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi-born, American-based journalist, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnès Callamard, remains categorical: UN Secretary-General António Guterres can and should do more about the murder, and so should member states. “I am asking the …

Human Rights, Journalists, Middle East, Security Council

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Pompeo Finds Little Appetite at the UN for His Iran Strategy

August 20, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

In the middle of a muggy August afternoon in New York, the United Nations Security Council gathered once more to figure out how to “maintain peace and security” in the Middle East. But the recurring topic always leaves conversations wide open for interpretation by the Council’s 15 members. The concept by Poland as Council …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Why Poland Could Master Mideast Issues in the UN Security Council

August 6, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

Even though many people think of August as vacation time, Joanna Wronecka, Poland’s ambassador to the United Nations, is not taking off anytime soon, as she is presiding over the Security Council for the month. As the Security Council is going to tackle issues affecting the Middle East and other parts of the world, …

Child Soldiers, Middle East, Security Council Presidency

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The UN Palestinian Refugee Agency Is in Hot Water, Again

August 5, 2019

by Thalif Deen

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which has been undermined by a sharp cut in United States contributions, has been embroiled in a scandal that threatens to jeopardize its very future. A report from the agency’s Ethics Office has found “credible and corroborated” evidence that the senior management of Unrwa engaged in “sexual …

Middle East, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

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President Trump’s Goal for Financing Palestinians Is a Guessing Game

June 30, 2019

by Evelyn Leopold

The United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians is vastly short of funds for 5.4 million people, while the Trump administration is doing its best to shut down the program and initiate new, albeit controversial financing. At issue was a “workshop” in Bahrain, held last week and organized by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President …

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

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Kuwait’s Priority for the UN Security Council Presidency: Iraq and the Mideast

June 3, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

Still, this small oil-rich Arab country has an agenda of its own that it wants to fulfill as it ends its last presidency on the Council — in probably decades — on a strong note. For June, Kuwait plans to work on the topic of missing persons in armed conflict, an issue that touches its …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Security Council Presidency

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WORLDVIEWS

The Gains of LGBTQ Rights in Some Mideast-North African Nations May Be a Game-Changer

May 27, 2019

by Suraj Girijashanker

Progress in recognizing the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people at the United Nations in New York and in Geneva may seem detached from the realities faced by LGBTQ people in the Middle East and North Africa, or Mena, region. Activists there, however, are navigating the UN human-rights system as …

Africa, Human Rights, Middle East, WORLDVIEWS

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GEOPOLITICS

Trump Nominates the Current UN Envoy as Ambassador to Egypt

April 12, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

Just days after President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt met with President Trump in the White House, receiving an effusive reception, Trump nominated Jonathan R. Cohen, the acting permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, as ambassador to Egypt. Cohen, who has been a Foreign Service officer since 1986, is from …

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

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In Numbers, Africa May Be a Force in the Christian World by 2060

April 8, 2019

by Barbara Crossette

New projections from a leading American research group suggest that the number of Christians in various denominations and sects is steadily rising in Africa and could dominate the faith numerically worldwide for decades to come. In 2015, according to the Pew Research Center, only three African countries were included in the top 10 in …

Africa, Health and Population, Latin America, Middle East

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For These Muslim-Americans, the ‘Siege’ Has Not Lifted

January 7, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

CLEVELAND, Ohio — In this city of immigrants, as one Moroccan-American called his hometown, the Muslim community keeps a low profile amid the Islamophobia that has reared its head in the United States in recent times. As one of the largest Muslim communities in the country, including a large Palestinian component, the repercussions against …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Security Council

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GEOPOLITICS

As His Country Wages War, President Hadi of Yemen Still Travels to US for Health Care

December 31, 2018

by Dulcie Leimbach

CLEVELAND, Ohio — On the main drag of Euclid Avenue in this Midwestern city sprawls the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic, the renowned hospital that attracts an estimated 2.5 million patients nationwide and abroad, including from the Middle East. That includes President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen, who has heart troubles and …

Geopolitics, Middle East, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

The US, Reversing Course on Cluster Bombs, Is Testing New Ones in Israel

December 28, 2018

by Stéphanie Fillion

TEL AVIV — Every day in some provinces of Vietnam, the simple act of walking can be deadly, as people risk stepping on unexploded ordnances, remnants from America’s war there that ended more than 40 years ago. The United States dropped 14 million tons of explosive devices during the war in Vietnam as well …

Disarmament, Geopolitics, Middle East, US Foreign Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Where Does the UN Security Council Stand on Yemen?

November 7, 2018

by Kristine Beckerle

BEIRUT — A Yemeni father’s voice, proudly telling us about his son, was nevertheless infused with sorrow: Ahmed was about 12 and smart. He lived with his father, his mother and his eight siblings until “the war came.” The Saudi-led coalition bombed their home about a year ago. The Houthi armed group that had …