Online Program Enrolling Now - Seton Hall - United Nations Institute for Training and Research
Online Program Enrolling Now - Seton Hall - United Nations Institute for Training and Research

BLUE SMOKE: A monthly column, from PassBlue and UNA–UK, spotlighting senior appointments at the UN

UN Diplomats

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  Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations stunned journalists recently when he read a contentious statement to them in response to an informal Security Council meeting on the current protests in Iran. The envoy delivered his remarks to…

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As I left the talk on “The Future of the United Nations,” given at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel by United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, I found myself disoriented, slipping into a Hitchcockian vertigo triggered by witnessing opportunities missed and…

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Can we shed a tear for Sergey Lavrov? Who could have foreseen, a few years back, the huge mess he now finds himself in? Spanning five decades of service in Moscow’s foreign policy hierarchy, the veteran envoy has worked…

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A year after the Burmese military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, horrifying statistics of death, torture, detention and disappearance of civilians continue to mount. As of Jan. 19, according to the Assistance Association for…

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Jane Holl Lute is in high demand. In 2020, on top of her two high-level United Nations jobs, the American diplomat has juggled other numerous executive roles on corporate and/or nonprofit boards, earning more than $900,000, according to public…

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Noeleen Heyzer, an expert in conflict resolution, economic development and women’s rights, has been named the next United Nations special envoy for Myanmar/Burma. Heyzer, from Singapore, was the first women to head the UN Economic and Social Commission for…

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The Taliban break promises to women in Afghanistan; Mali moving toward combatant reintegration; the Kafkaesque legal work representing Gitmo detainees. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from…

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The next time you pass by a florist who is pulling shots, pull over. It’s not often you get to inhale the heady perfume of freshly brewed coffee, hand-tied bouquets and artfully potted flowering plants. Remarkably, you can have…

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Diego Arria, a former Venezuelan diplomat and political figure, is a moving target. But he took the time recently to speak with PassBlue — and explain how, in the 1990s, informal coffees in one of the United Nations headquarters…

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The presidency of the Security Council is always a high time for a country’s diplomacy, but for India right now, it’s more than that. In August, the country is going to try to show the world why it deserves…

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The battle is on to grab the Myanmar seat at the United Nations in New York City, a hugely significant prize as the junta wages a campaign for diplomatic recognition. Nonrecognition of the regime is crucial right now, because…

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The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs lost control over how the International Peace Institute, a New York City think tank formerly financed by Norway, spent the money, an investigation by the country’s Office of the Auditor General found. The…

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One of America’s greatest supporters of the United Nations, Ambassador William vanden Heuvel, died on June 15 in New York City at age 91. A son of European immigrants, vanden Heuvel grew up in the upstate city of Rochester,…

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VIENNA — In an interview here with Rafael Grossi, the 60-year-old director-general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — he revealed that he has not had a reply yet from Iran on a possible…

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Anastasia Dragon Nezeriotis — Anne to her colleagues and friends — died in Clearwater, Fla., 25 years ago last month. A native of Lynn, Mass., she was a teacher at Lynn English High School, her obituary said. She married…

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Online Program Enrolling Now - Seton Hall - United Nations Institute for Training and Research

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