Security Council

Sidelining Africans, the US Imposes Its Own Choice for UN Envoy to Libya

November 16, 2020

Ignoring two proposals from Africa to fill the United Nations special envoy post for Libya, the United States demanded that the secretary-general, António Guterres, accept its own choice, several diplomats have told PassBlue. The maneuver could leave Africa with only a minimal voice in the mediation of a war in its own continent, spurred …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Libya, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Special Envoys

One Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

The US Waits and Waits for Final Voting Results; Election Mayhem in Côte d’Ivoire; a Tiny State Runs the Security Council

November 6, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

Are we there yet? The United States still awaits final presidential election results; one of the United Nations’ smallest countries leads the Security Council; and presidential election violence in Côte d’Ivoire. You are reading This Week @UN, highlighting the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, …

Africa, Caribbean, Governance, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

A Norwegian Diplomat Disgraced; Covid Strikes the UN Security Council; Russia Fails to Promote Women’s Rights

October 31, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

A scandal involving a Norwegian diplomat erupts; Covid-19 rears its head at the United Nations; and who could become its 194th member state? Greetings from This Week @UN, highlights of the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other sources. Scoop: In …

General Assembly, Health and Population, Human Rights, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council, This Week @UN

Leave a Comment

Terje Rod-Larsen, a Norwegian Diplomat, Quits a New York Think Tank Amid Links to Jeffrey Epstein

October 29, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach and Barbara Crossette

Terje Rod-Larsen, the president of the prestigious International Peace Institute since 2005, resigned Thursday, according to a statement released by the Manhattan-based think tank on Oct. 29, 2020. Rod-Larsen is a renowned Norwegian diplomat, politician and former United Nations envoy. He and his wife, Mona Juul, now Norway’s ambassador to the UN, were central …

Security Council, UN Diplomats, UN-NY Relations

One Comment

COVID-19

The Path to Ending Our Global Chaos Is Through the UN

October 22, 2020

by Mona Ali Khalil

By all accounts, 2020 has been a terrible year so far — but is it worse than 1920? In 1920, World War I, which killed 16 million people, had just ended. The two-year influenza pandemic that followed killed 50 million more. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has already killed more than one million people …

General Assembly, Health and Population, Secretary-General, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

One Comment

The Iran Nuclear Deal: What’s the US Going to Do Next?

September 15, 2020

by Evelyn Leopold

The Trump administration has attempted to trigger a 30-day-clock on extending an arms embargo on Iran that expires on Oct. 18. But the United States position, aimed at mandating all United Nations members to follow its lead, is opposed by most of the world. The embargo is part of Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted …

Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council

Leave a Comment

As Iran Allows the UN Access to Suspected Nuclear Sites, Its Uranium Stockpile Is Growing

September 7, 2020

by Stephanie Liechtenstein

VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency has just reported that Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium continues to grow. The stockpile now exceeds the limit set in the 2015 nuclear deal tenfold. According to the confidential quarterly IAEA report, distributed to member states on Sept. 4 and seen by PassBlue, as of Aug. 25, …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council

Leave a Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

Beijing+25; ICC Prosecutor Sanctioned by US; Niger Leads the Security Council

September 5, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

The 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; the United States sanctions the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; dissecting the failed ambitions of the US effort to force the UN mission in Lebanon to be more aggressive. Greetings from This Week @UN, our summary highlighting the most important news on the …

Middle East, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

One Comment

WORLDVIEWS

The Unifil Peacekeeping Mandate: Kicking the Southern Lebanon Can Down the Road

September 3, 2020

by Karim Makdisi

On Aug. 28, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to renew its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, called Unifil, for another year. This unanimity, however, masked what had been a series of heated informal discussions on the nature of Unifil and the interpretation of its mandate. The United States, essentially representing Israel, threatened …

Middle East, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

Leave a Comment

COVID-19

Lebanon’s Crisis on Top of a Crisis: Our Latest Podcast Episode

August 17, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion and Kacie Candela

The devastating series of explosions that rocked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on Aug. 4, killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands of others, destroyed most of the city’s port, flattened surrounding neighborhoods, damaged six hospitals and more than 20 health clinics and wiped out 120 schools. Five days later, on Aug. 9, the international …

Covid-19, Middle East, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

Leave a Comment

SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Indonesia’s Legacy in the Security Council: Daring to Save Lives

August 3, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

A big power in Southeast Asia and a middle power globally, Indonesia plays a “bridge builder” role in the United Nations Security Council, it says. It’s a strategy that is getting harder and harder to embody, however, with rising tensions among the five big powers in the Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the …

Asia, Security Council, Security Council Presidency

Leave a Comment

TOPIC: INDIA

India to the UN Security Council: There Will Be No Alliances

August 2, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

With five months to go before India takes its elected seat on the Security Council for 2021-2022, the country’s foreign minister says it will stay true to its founding tradition of nonalignment and not take sides with any big power. “Nonalignment was a term of a particular era and geopolitical landscape,” the minister, Subrahmanyam …

India, Security Council

Leave a Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

The Security Council Meets Physically (Twice), and More Details on the UN’s Big Week in September

July 17, 2020

by Allison Lecce

As the number of Covid-19 cases skyrockets globally — and the United States remains the epicenter with nearly 3.6 million confirmed cases — the United Nations Security Council met physically on July 14 for the first time since March 12. The setting was not the Council’s usual chamber in the UN headquarters but the …

Security Council, This Week @UN

One Comment

As Explosive Weapons Kill More Civilians Abroad, US Companies Just Sell More of Them

July 15, 2020

by Allison Lecce

For the ninth year in a row, 90 percent of people killed by explosive weapons in urban areas were civilians. The use of these devices is proliferating in conflicts because they are becoming easier to come by — sometimes they are even homemade. The United States is the world’s largest overall exporter of arms …

Disarmament, Middle East, Security Council, Syria

One Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

US Severs Ties to the WHO, Security Council Vetoes, Counterterrorism Week

July 10, 2020

by Allison Lecce

In a final straw to the current troubles between the World Health Organization and the United States, the Trump administration notified United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on July 6 of its withdrawal from the agency, effective July 6, 2021. But the story may not be over, as Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, tweeted: …

Climate and Environment, General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

Support Independent Journalism - Support PassBlue - Find out how →

Security Council

Sidelining Africans, the US Imposes Its Own Choice for UN Envoy to Libya

The US Waits and Waits for Final Voting Results; Election Mayhem in Côte d’Ivoire; a Tiny State Runs the Security Council

A Norwegian Diplomat Disgraced; Covid Strikes the UN Security Council; Russia Fails to Promote Women’s Rights

Terje Rod-Larsen, a Norwegian Diplomat, Quits a New York Think Tank Amid Links to Jeffrey Epstein

The Path to Ending Our Global Chaos Is Through the UN

The Iran Nuclear Deal: What’s the US Going to Do Next?

As Iran Allows the UN Access to Suspected Nuclear Sites, Its Uranium Stockpile Is Growing

Beijing+25; ICC Prosecutor Sanctioned by US; Niger Leads the Security Council

The Unifil Peacekeeping Mandate: Kicking the Southern Lebanon Can Down the Road

Lebanon’s Crisis on Top of a Crisis: Our Latest Podcast Episode

Indonesia’s Legacy in the Security Council: Daring to Save Lives

India to the UN Security Council: There Will Be No Alliances

The Security Council Meets Physically (Twice), and More Details on the UN’s Big Week in September

As Explosive Weapons Kill More Civilians Abroad, US Companies Just Sell More of Them

US Severs Ties to the WHO, Security Council Vetoes, Counterterrorism Week

This Week's Most Popular

Hey, Biden-Harris Team, What About the UN?

Rights Advocates Rejoice as the New Biden Team Is Assembled

As the SDGs Falter, the UN Turns to the Rich and Famous

Fed-Up Africans; Has Biden Forgotten the UN?; Don’t Sanction the Houthis

Big Holes in the UN Development Goals Are Exposed by New Studies

UN-Scripted, the Passblue UN podcast series

PassBlue is a partner with the New School - Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs