P5 Monitor

• October 7, 2018

John Bolton, whose white hair betrays the wisdom that a national security adviser to President Donald Trump should bring to his job, has threatened United States sanctions against judges of the International Criminal Court for adjudicating alleged war crimes committed by American forces in Afghanistan. However, frantic threats and hysterical big-power strutting does not …

Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, US Foreign Relations

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P5 MONITOR

The US and Iran: Playing With Fire

Enrico Carisch

• August 13, 2018

With the recent reimposition of its sanctions against Iran, the United States is clearly violating its obligations under the United Nations resolution that endorsed the Iran nuclear agreement. While the Security Council has taken note and Iran has formally responded, urging the UN “to keep the United States accountable,” no party to the agreement …

P5 Monitor, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

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P5 MONITOR

The Congo: Tiptoeing Toward a New War?

Enrico Carisch

• July 9, 2018

If President Joseph Kabila’s continued violations of his country’s constitutional term limits were not enough of a warning, the first paragraph of the latest report by United Nations experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo sets the record straight, saying: “Armed actors continuously used the delay in the electoral process to promote acts …

Africa, Human Rights, P5 Monitor, Security Council

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P5 MONITOR

The Perils of Kim-Trump Diplomacy on the UN Security Council

Enrico Carisch

• June 10, 2018

Could the Kim-Trump meeting in Singapore on Tuesday displace the United Nations Security Council’s mandate to regulate the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as the United States succeeded in doing when it withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal? Chances of abolishing the UN sanctions regime on North Korea without the Council having the …

Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

The Sanctions War Heats Up: US vs. the World

Enrico Carisch

• May 22, 2018

Mike Pompeo, in his first speech as Donald Trump’s new secretary of state, threatened United States’ allies: “You should know that we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.” Pompeo, speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., on May 21, is actually pitting the US against the United Nations, …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

Is This the End of the UN Security Council?

Enrico Carisch

• May 10, 2018

What can the five remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal do now that the Trump administration has trampled on Security Council Resolution 2231 and its 13 binding decisions, adopted under Article 41 of the United Nations Charter? Sooner or later, the other 14 members of the Security Council, especially Britain, China, France and …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

So Who Is Lying: Iran, Israel or Trump?

Enrico Carisch

• May 7, 2018

The world will soon know the future of the Iran nuclear deal, when President Trump plans to announce his intentions on May 8 at 2 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, from the White House. The decision follows intense jostling among high-powered countries, current and former government officials and seasoned disarmament people in the last several …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

As Moon Meets Kim, Who Will Eventually Claim Credit for a Korean Peace Deal?

Enrico Carisch

• April 26, 2018

Two important global events that are about to happen may sound alluring to some Americans: first, the United States government may jettison or significantly alter the nuclear deal with Iran; and Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea will begin to negotiate terms for long-overdue peace with South Korean President Moon Jae In, when …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

Fixing Iran the European Way, Using Sanctions for Peace

Enrico Carisch

• April 6, 2018

Preventing the United States from collapsing the Iran nuclear deal may be impossible, but European and other global leaders are still ensuring that the Trump team knows the political costs that it will incur if it sticks to that goal. European opponents of Donald Trump’s Iran manipulations, far from floppy handwringers, are motivated by …

P5 Monitor, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

Europe to Trump: We Are Not Giving Up on the Iran Nuclear Deal

Enrico Carisch

• April 5, 2018

While the Trump administration stocks up on Iran hawks like John Bolton, the new national security adviser, and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, an impending collapse of the Iran nuclear deal could rapidly turn into a new global reality: further isolation of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel as the rest of …

P5 Monitor, Security Council

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P5 MONITOR

Trump’s Opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal: A Zero-Sum Game?

Enrico Carisch

• April 4, 2018

President Donald Trump’s mid-May deadline for renegotiating the terms of the nuclear arms deal with Iran is rapidly approaching. So far, his words and actions seem to isolate the United States from its European and Asian allies while straining his credibility as a negotiator, which he needs for the scheduled meeting, also in May, …

P5 Monitor, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

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P5 MONITOR

Playing Fair With Sanctions: Is There a Method to the Madness?

Enrico Carisch

• March 8, 2018

Criticisms over a lack of fairness of United Nations sanctions and inconsistencies in their application are frequent and routine — and not without justification. For decades, human-rights experts have pointed to the paradox that unreliable practices, in the words of one expert, render “the UN sanctions system noncompliant with the UN’s human rights standards.” …