Security Council

• August 2, 2020

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

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THIS WEEK @UN

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

Allison Lecce

• July 17, 2020

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

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

Allison Lecce

• July 15, 2020

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

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THIS WEEK @UN

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

Allison Lecce

• July 10, 2020

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

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THIS WEEK @UN

The UN Charter’s Birthday, Guterres ‘Meets’ the Press, Israel’s Annexation Plans

Allison Lecce

• June 26, 2020

Starting in June, a summary of the most important news on the United Nations’ work in New York City and worldwide will be highlighted weekly. The news will be drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other sources. We welcome your feedback on the new series, called This Week @UN. This …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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UN75

75 Years In, Does the UN Still Matter? Our New Podcast Episode

Stéphanie Fillion and Kacie Candela

• June 25, 2020

On June 26, 1945, delegates from 50 nations who had gathered in San Francisco over two months to attend the United Nations Conference on International Organization signed the United Nations Charter, forging a new world order. Seventy-five years in and a whole different world later, the UN is celebrating its past, present and future, …

Secretary-General, Security Council, UN75

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COVID-19

India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway to Join the UN Security Council

Stéphanie Fillion

• June 17, 2020

An almost empty General Assembly Hall, masks of all types and colors and diplomats rejoicing to see their colleagues that they probably have seen only on their computer screens for months marked this year’s General Assembly elections at the United Nations. On June 17, Norway and Ireland won the two open seats on the …

Covid-19, General Assembly, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

The IAEA Voices ‘Serious Concern’ Over Blocked Access to Certain Iranian Sites

Stephanie Liechtenstein

• June 8, 2020

VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency issued an alarming report on June 5, voicing “serious concern” over Iran’s refusal to allow the agency’s inspectors to investigate two sites where the country is suspected of having conducted undeclared nuclear activities in the past. The report is unrelated to the agency’s quarterly updates on Iran’s …

Covid-19, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

As Protests Sweep the US, the UN Tweets Platitudes

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 3, 2020

In New York City, protesters swarm the roadway portion of the Brooklyn Bridge, heading from the City Hall area of lower Manhattan into Brooklyn. The crowd stopped incoming traffic, but there was no violence, May 30, 2020. JOHN PENNEY Amid curfews in New York City, constant marches and protests, sirens from the streets and …

Covid-19, General Assembly, Human Rights, Secretary-General, Security Council

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COVID-19

Pulling Peacekeepers From Darfur Will Be a Murderous Mistake

Niemat Ahmadi

• May 27, 2020

The world plans to withdraw peacekeepers from Darfur by the end of this year. Without an alternative in place, this premature departure is a disaster in the making for the millions of Darfuris it will leave behind. While the West weighs the best ways to protect civilians going forward, I and millions of Darfuris …

Africa, Covid-19, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Is the US Ready for a Feminist Foreign Policy? Absolutely, Advocates Say

Barbara Crossette

• May 26, 2020

The world of diplomacy has toyed with the concept of feminist foreign policies for years, raising some support and not a few snickers from dissenters. A new campaign led by women with strong professional qualifications and global experience in more than 50 organizations plans to change that mind-set in the United States. On May …

Security Council, US Foreign Relations, Women

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COVID-19

The US Plans to Prolong the Iran Arms Ban Through the UN, Where It Has Few Friends

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 20, 2020

The Trump administration may be bound and determined to extend a tight global arms embargo on Iran, but it still can’t send a straight message about how it will do so through the United Nations Security Council. The embargo, embedded in a Council resolution endorsing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, expires in October. While …

Covid-19, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Will the Coronavirus Leave Joe and Kelly Craft Homeless? Maybe the Fed Can Help

Irwin Arieff

• May 15, 2020

A year ago, Kelly Craft was serving as Washington’s frequently absent ambassador to Canada, soon to be en route to the United Nations. Her spouse, the coal baron Joseph Craft III, was knee-deep in a Trump administration assault on federal rules aimed at safeguarding the environment, slowing climate change and protecting miners and other …

Covid-19, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

‘Pathetic’: The US Pulls the Plug on a UN Global Cease-Fire Resolution

Dali ten Hove

• May 10, 2020

After six weeks of negotiations, the United States shot down hopes for a resolution to be approved in the United Nations Security Council on May 8, refusing to back worldwide cease-fires as the US continues to castigate China and the World Health Organization for the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, momentum behind tenuous cease-fires is vanishing, …

Covid-19, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Trump Disses the UN’s 75th Birthday

Stephen Schlesinger

• May 6, 2020

This fall, the United Nations will celebrate its 75th anniversary. This is a notable occasion. Most global security bodies have had short shelf lives. But the UN has shown an extraordinary durability — a tribute to how this body was conceived and fashioned during World War II by one of America’s great presidents, Franklin …