UN Peacekeeping

• June 28, 2017

Five months into her stint as United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley faced two days of often-sharp questioning on June 27 and 28 by influential panels of the United States Congress. They demanded justification for the Trump administration’s decision to slash funding to the United Nations, particularly cuts to the UN …

Nikki Haley Watch, Security Council, Syria, UN Agencies, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

Despite the Terrorist Attack on Our Beloved Malian Resort, We Will Come Back

François Rihouay

• June 24, 2017

It always took me ages to hit the road to the Kangaba camp. Leaving downtown Bamako can be tricky, especially if your place is baco fé — on the far bank of the Niger River — as they say in Bambara, the local language. The traffic is a nightmare. On weekends, dozens of old yellow …

Africa, Peace and Security, Terrorism, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

Leave a Comment

GEOPOLITICS

The Debate on Trump’s Budget Ignores Serious Global Cuts

Barbara Crossette

• May 29, 2017

When the White House sent its proposed 2018 budget to the United States Congress on May 23, it was apparent that not only would a hawkish, nationalistic focus on military expenditures come at the cost of international aid and support for the United Nations. Worse, the Trump plan would also sideline discussions on global …

Africa, Gender Violence, Geopolitics, Health and Population, Humanitarian Aid, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

GEOPOLITICS

Canada Is Still Wavering in Its Pledge to UN Peacekeeping

Julie Vanderperre

• April 20, 2017

Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in a splashy way right after his 2015 election to “renew Canada’s commitment to United Nations peace operations,” the country’s contribution to peacekeeping remains at an all-time low. Since Trudeau’s seemingly impetuous campaign promise a year and a half ago, allies and UN member states have anticipated a …

Africa, Geopolitics, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

TAKE A LOOK

Demand for Lower Peacekeeping Dues to Pit the US Against the UN

Barbara Crossette

• April 16, 2017

The Trump administration, buoyed by a powerful anti-internationalist movement among conservative Republicans in the United States Congress, is headed for a new confrontation with the United Nations over who decides how much the US should pay for peacekeeping. With a tentative US budget deadline of April 28 fast approaching, it is almost certain that …

Peace and Security, Take a Look, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

TOPIC: WOMEN

UN’s First Female Force Commander Talks Gender Equality in the Military

Shana L. Childs

• April 13, 2017

Maj. Gen. Kristin Lund made history in 2014 when she was appointed the first female force commander of a United Nations peacekeeping mission — in this case, Cyprus. Still in active duty in the Norwegian military, General Lund, 58, gives lectures and advises the Norwegian Defense University College in Oslo. Although she is proud …

UN Careers, UN Peacekeeping, Women

Leave a Comment

TAKE A LOOK

America’s Financial Support to the UN: What’s at Stake?

Barbara Crossette

• April 4, 2017

With White House proposals to slash United States assessments and donations to international organizations now in play in the writing of a federal budget for 2018 — as an April 28 deadline approaches — the extent of potential losses to the United Nations is coming into sharp focus. The US, for example, has immediately …

Take a Look, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

One Comment

NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Nikki Haley Tells New York Elites: I Will Change the UN

Barbara Crossette

• March 29, 2017

Nikki Haley, the Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Nations took her ambitious plans and convictions about the role of the United States in the UN to the center of New York’s foreign policy establishment: the Council on Foreign Relations. Her central message, delivered on March 29, was that the UN needs the “breath …

Nikki Haley Watch, Security Council, UN Diplomats, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

One Comment

In South Sudan Camps, Radio Is a Powerful Tool

Kacie Candela

• March 22, 2017

Jess Engrebretson is a different kind of humanitarian-aid worker. As an American journalist and Thomas J. Watson Fellow, she has worked with local radio projects in Indonesia, Rwanda and Liberia on post-conflict resolution and human-rights reporting. From 2014 to 2015, Engrebretson helped develop radio infrastructure in a camp for displaced people near Malakal, South …

Africa, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping

One Comment

TAKE A LOOK

Trump Proposes Slashing Funds to the UN and Gutting Climate Aid

Barbara Crossette

• March 16, 2017

In his first national budget plan, released by the White House today, President Donald Trump proposed an aggressively pro-military and security-obsessed agenda that could severely cut funds to the State Department and the United Nations. Numerous other international programs run by various government agencies, which benefit many people around the world, are also being …

Take a Look, UN Agencies, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

GEOPOLITICS

Can a Trusteeship Rescue South Sudan? Unlikely, Experts Say

Julie Vanderperre

• February 22, 2017

The intense civil conflict in South Sudan that broke out in December 2013 and has brought the world’s youngest nation to the edge of genocide has not subsided, with no solution in sight. Once more, the United Nations Security Council will meet to discuss the newest status report from the UN Secretariat, as President …

Africa, Gender Violence, Geopolitics, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations

Leave a Comment

How’s He Doing? António Guterres’s First Month as UN Secretary-General

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 5, 2017

Thirty-two days in office as United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres spoke extensively to the media for the first time at UN headquarters, on Feb. 1. Indicative of the chaos gripping many parts of the world as a result of new White House actions, Guterres might be forgiven for waiting a month to address the …

Migration, Peace and Security, Refugees, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

Nikki Haley Tells US Congress: The UN Does Matter

Barbara Crossette

• January 21, 2017

Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the United States ambassador to the United Nations, appeared in a confirmation hearing on January 18 lasting more than three hours in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She introduced herself in an address to members that was both autobiographical — the daughter of immigrants — and political. …

Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

Message to Trump: The US Needs the UN and Vice Versa

Donald T. Bliss

• December 17, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Strong American leadership at the United Nations would greatly enhance President-elect Trump’s foreign policy agenda. United States investment in the UN is an effective use of taxpayer dollars to serve the US military, diplomatic, economic and national security interests. UN peacekeepers, for example, cost one-eighth the expenses of US boots on …

Development, Peace and Security, Security Council, Sustainable Development Goals, UN Agencies, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

One Comment

As Terrorist Threats Rise in Mali, the Dutch Slowly Pull Out of Peacekeeping

Julie Vanderperre

• November 10, 2016

The Dutch contingent of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali is withdrawing its seven helicopters from the operation by spring, leaving a wide hole in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering for the mission that desperately needs those assets. With no immediate supplier for replacement helicopters in sight, the withdrawal presents an additional strain on the …