Middle East

A Useful Mideast Peace Plan? Don’t Hold Your Breath

March 7, 2018

Nikki Haley is appealing to the Palestinian people for “negotiation and compromise” in search of Middle East peace, denying that Washington is biased against them even as she warns their leaders that holding out will “lead to nothing but hardship.” But the latest pitch for Palestinian engagement by Haley, the United States ambassador to …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Nikki Haley Watch, Security Council

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GEOPOLITICS

Is the New UN Envoy for Yemen Destined for Failure?

March 5, 2018

by Chris Gelardi

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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WORLDVIEWS

Iran Missiles to Yemen: Is There Room for Circumstantial Evidence in UN Sanctions?

January 16, 2018

by Enrico Carisch

Citing an unpublished report of the United Nations panel of experts on Yemen, The New York Times said recently that Iran violated the Yemen arms embargo, according to UN experts. The same day, The Washington Post used essentially the same set of reported facts under a more judicious headline that said, in part, “Iran weapons to …

Disarmament, Middle East, Security Council, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

The US and UN Sanctions: Outwitted, Outlasted, Outplayed?

January 11, 2018

by Enrico Carisch

With the Security Council’s unanimous vote to expand United Nations sanctions on North Korea on Dec. 22, President Trump appeared to add another high point to a victorious final week of 2017 based on his tax reform in United States Congress. But appearances deceive, as delegations’ statements in the Council demonstrated before adopting Resolution …

Middle East, Nikki Haley Watch, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

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

December 16, 2017

by Enrico Carisch

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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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Will the Real Nikki Haley Please Stand Up?

December 14, 2017

by Irwin Arieff

Nikki Haley must have raised eyebrows at the White House with her bold off-the-cuff defense of the women complaining that Donald Trump sexually abused them before the election. “[A]ny woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up,” Haley said on the CBS talk show …

Gender-Based Violence, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Nikki Haley Watch, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

What a Stripped-Down State Department Bodes for the UN and Nikki Haley

November 26, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

In Washington, there is no question that the State Department is in a weakened position, a situation that the Trump White House — and the Trump family — seem to relish. To some in the understaffed, stripped-down Foreign Service and to commentators on United States foreign policy, this is a disgrace linked directly to …

Middle East, Nikki Haley Watch, Nuclear Disarmament, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

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

November 17, 2017

by Dulcie Leimbach

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 …

Gender-Based Violence, Geopolitics, Middle East

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BOOKS

A Hint on Confronting Islamist Power. Or Maybe Not.

October 7, 2017

by Irwin Arieff

Will it never end? When will time run out on the array of shape-shifting militant Islamist movements intent on moving into shaky trouble spots around the world to impose their extreme ideology, harness the population and hijack the local economy? How long will it take for the international community — the ubiquitous West — …

BOOKS, Libya, Middle East, Syria, Terrorism, US Foreign Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Saudis Dispute Casualty Numbers in New UN Report on Children in War

September 27, 2017

by Dulcie Leimbach

Saudi Arabia is vehemently disputing a decision by the United Nations that it is to be named and shamed again for its violations of children’s rights in the Yemen war. The Saudis, who lead a regional bombing coalition against the Houthi opposition forces in Yemen, have landed in the annual report from the UN …

Geopolitics, Middle East, Secretary-General

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UNGA72

Trump Blows Up the UN, Metaphorically Speaking

September 19, 2017

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

Can a rebuttal happen before an event occurs? United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres took pre-emptive strikes against President Donald Trump in his speech at the opening session of the 72nd General Assembly, on Sept. 19, 2017. Rumors were rampant that Trump would deliver a strongly nationalistic speech, reportedly written by Stephen Miller, author of …

General Assembly, Middle East, Migration, Peace and Security, Refugees, Terrorism, UNGA72, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

US Ambassador’s Ultimatum to the UN: Agree With Us or We Go It Alone

September 16, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

When Nikki Haley, now the United States ambassador to the United Nations, was questioned by senators at her confirmation hearing in January about how she would deal with Donald Trump’s dismissive view of internationalism, she said confidently, “I will show him that the UN matters.” She also said that she would show the world …

Human Rights, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Nikki Haley Watch, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Building a Case for Prosecuting the Genocide of Yazidi Women

August 1, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

As the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq crumbles, assessments begin to emerge of the damage left in its wake by its cultural nihilism and harsh sectarian absolutism designed to remake an Arab society. The human costs have been high in Iraq — in deaths, maiming, displacement and the enslavement of girls and women. …

Gender-Based Violence, Middle East, Responsibility to Protect, Security Council, Terrorism, Women

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GEOPOLITICS

Russia Blocks Egypt From Pushing for More Oversight of UN Sanctions

July 31, 2017

by Dulcie Leimbach

Striving to leave an indelible mark as president of the United Nations Security Council in August, Egypt proposed that an informal working group, focused comprehensively on sanctions regimes, should be set up to advise the Council. But one powerful member of the Council, Russia, has said no to the idea, so it has been …

Africa, Geopolitics, Middle East, Security Council

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

US Sends Mixed Messages to UN Mission in Iraq

July 28, 2017

by Kacie Candela

Since the liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul in early July, United Nations officials and diplomats in New York have weighed in on the crucial stabilization process for the ruined city. Part of the voices included, of course, the United States diplomatic mission to the UN. Those commenting on Mosul’s newfound freedom championed …