Secretary-General

• June 26, 2018

There is a crisis in the United Nations human-rights system. Secretary-General António Guterres can lead the way out of it. Indeed, the world continues to look to the UN secretary-general to stand up for the principles of the organization. One of the highest responsibilities of the incumbent is to help steer a course toward …

General Assembly, Human Rights, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Do We Even Need the UN? An Academic’s Quest to Find the Answer

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 24, 2018

Would the world be better off without the United Nations? The question couldn’t be more important in the age of Trump and his rejection of multilateral institutions as well as traditional allies. Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science at the City University of New York Graduate Center, took on this question, speaking …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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GEOPOLITICS

In Hodeidah, the Norwegian Refugee Council Hangs On to Save Yemenis

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 20, 2018

As the attack on Hodeidah, a major port in western Yemen on the Red Sea, moves into its second week, led by the coalition of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the rest of the world seems to be sitting and watching the destruction. The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent nongovernmental organization, has …

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

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN’s Emphasis on Prevention Could Use Lessons From the Case of Guinea

Gustavo Macedo

• June 18, 2018

Historically neglected, gender-based violence is now becoming broadly recognized as a legitimate and urgent agenda item among the United Nations member nations, notably in the UN’s most powerful forum, the Security Council. But the future of the agenda is uncertain, as priorities remain unclear and inadequate methods for preventing sexual violence against women keep …

Africa, Gender Violence, Responsibility to Protect, Secretary-General, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN and #MeToo: All Forms of Abuse Must End Now

Loraine Rickard-Martin

• May 9, 2018

For many years now, media attention on sexual abuse and exploitation by United Nations peacekeepers cornered the UN and pushed it toward reform. Now, the #MeToo movement has put the organization — and many other major institutions across the world — on red alert. But UN insiders and supporters are wondering if the leadership’s …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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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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As the UN Strives to Modernize Peacekeeping, the US Still Vows to Cut Funding

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 2, 2018

As peacekeepers sweat and toil and risk their lives in some of the world’s most lethal settings — South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo — it is incumbent on the United Nations and its 193 members to alleviate the suffering and deaths of troops as fatalities keep rising. In …

Africa, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

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In Newark’s Portuguese Community, UN Secretary-General António Guterres Is Unknown

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 21, 2018

NEWARK, N.J. — In the Portuguese-speaking section of New Jersey’s most populous city, virtually no one, when asked, had heard of António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations and a one-time prime minister of Portugal. At a popular restaurant on Ferry Street, the main drag nicknamed Portugal Street, one person eating his platter …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Who Says the UN Is Boring? Intrigue Always Abounds in Its Inner Core

Herman T. Salton

• March 20, 2018

Bureaucracies do not have a great reputation, and the United Nations bureaucracy is no exception. They are seen as inefficient, cumbersome and rigid, adjectives that are also routinely associated with the UN Secretariat. At best considered a “necessary evil,” bureaucracies tend to attract scorn rather than analysis. The UN Secretariat, however, is different. Although …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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In an Unusual Move, the UN Security Council Is Heading to Sweden for a Retreat

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 19, 2018

The United Nations Security Council, perhaps needing a change of scenery from its chamber overlooking the East River in New York, is traveling to the southern Swedish coast in April for an annual retreat whose theme this year is “a new narrative on peace operations.” The retreat will be held in a newly renovated …

Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council

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The UN Secretary-General Pushes Ahead on Peacekeeping Reform

Barbara Crossette

• March 16, 2018

Responding to a December request from the General Assembly for details on how he proposes to staff and pay for sweeping changes in political affairs and peacekeeping at the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres has drafted a 50-page explanation for member states to consider. The General Assembly had agreed in principle to his original …

Peace and Security, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women Descend on the UN, Riding on the Heels of #TimesUp

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 12, 2018

As women across the world battle systemic harassment and worse abuses for merely being female, the United Nations has opened its annual gathering of women in one of its biggest conferences of the year. This time, the 12-day meeting focuses on the status of rural women, but since it follows closely on the heels …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Secretary-General, Women

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A Sexual Assault Claim at Unaids Suggests a Cover-Up by Its Management

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 14, 2018

As allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in the offices, field operations and peacekeeping missions continue to plague the United Nations, a case that has recently come to light reveals that in 2016 a woman who worked for Unaids accused a high-level official of the entity of sexual assault. The woman’s claim has been …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

How Stormy Was It? The First Year of Trump, Haley and Guterres at the UN

Fred Carver

• January 28, 2018

LONDON — President Donald Trump marked a year at the helm of the United States on Jan. 20. Secretary-General António Guterres marked a year at the helm of the United Nations on Jan. 1. How has their first year gone relative to the UN? The short answer is: not as badly as you might …

Nikki Haley Watch, Nuclear Disarmament, Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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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 — …