US Foreign Relations

• June 18, 2021

The UN’s leader is sworn in for another term; Myanmar’s rapid instability; elevating the US ambassador’s profile. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. We are about a third of the way through our mini-fundraiser, …

General Assembly, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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Turnabout in US Foreign Policy Puts UN in the Spotlight

Irwin Arieff

• June 15, 2021

After four years of wandering lost in the desert, diplomacy is finding its way back to Washington. With Joe Biden in the Oval Office, “America First” is out and “multilateralism,” “cooperation” and “alliance” are no longer dirty words. Washington is once again embracing longtime allies, blowing kisses at the United Nations, touting NATO and …

Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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UN Security Council Members Say to Israel and Hamas: Stop Killing Children

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 16, 2021

Across seven straight days of sudden, staggering violence between Israel and Hamas and rising death tolls of civilians, all 15 members of the Security Council aired their views publicly at the United Nations on Sunday, after the Council held two closed meetings last week on the continuing destruction in Israel and Palestine. Officials from …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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On the Campaign Trail for the World’s ‘Most Impossible’ Job

Dali ten Hove

• May 3, 2021

The job of United Nations secretary-general is the “most impossible on earth,” as the first postholder, Trygve Lie, famously told his successor, Dag Hammarskjold. Though Lie spoke partly in jest to amuse the assembled reporters, the remark has stuck with UN observers for its eerie insightfulness. After all, the UN chief is charged with …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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A Tale of Two US Ambassadors on Racism

Irwin Arieff

• April 26, 2021

Should the United States acknowledge and openly lament the fact that white supremacy played a significant role in the country’s founding? Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Joe Biden’s pick as the US ambassador to the United Nations, thinks so. So does Biden himself. Both have spoken openly of their conviction that racism was woven into the fabric …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

Major Afghanistan Peace Talks; Spoilsport Russia; Wartime Sexual Abuse in the Pandemic

Ivana Ramirez

• April 16, 2021

Afghanistan mega-peace talks in Istanbul; Russia the spoiler; could a Latin American woman lead the UN down the road or sooner? You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. We at PassBlue are deeply saddened by …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

America’s Forbidding Legacy on the Southern Border

Stephen Schlesinger

• April 11, 2021

While the United Nations focuses fitfully on its own long string of refugee problems, President Joe Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to resolve the problems of migration at the United States-Mexico border. There are legitimate reasons for Americans to be concerned about the flood of migrants, mostly coming from Central America. But …

Human Rights, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Biden and Harris Interact With the UN; a New Envoy for Afghanistan; Canada Meets a Secretary-General Candidate

Ivana Ramirez

• March 19, 2021

The Security Council gathers with President Biden; commercial surrogacy is legalized in New York State; Kamala Harris on women and democracy; a UN secretary-general aspirant meets with Canadian diplomats. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other …

Climate and Environment, Disabilities, General Assembly, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Democracy Depends on Women’s Empowerment, Kamala Harris Says in Her UN Debut

Barbara Crossette

• March 16, 2021

Facing a world unsettled and even shocked by what has happened to the United States in recent years and not sure what to expect of Americans now, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke today in clear, reassuring terms to a United Nations audience, tuned in globally. But she warned that democracy everywhere was in peril …

Gender Violence, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

Regional Nations Should Mediate the Crisis in Myanmar, a Leading Analyst Says

Noeleen Heyzer

• March 9, 2021

SINGAPORE — The situation in Myanmar is growing more violent and polarized. If the situation continues without urgent intervention, the safety and security of civilians will deteriorate rapidly and a window for dialogue between the military and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and its supporters will close further. If this …

Myanmar, Responsibility to Protect, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN-Led Peace Process for Syria Has Failed. Women Must Be Part of the Next One.

Mouna Ghanem

• March 8, 2021

COPENHAGEN — In her book, “The Second Sex,” Simone de Beauvoir argued that one is not born but rather becomes a woman. De Beauvoir emphasized that destiny is not a cosmic force but a human choice, a result of circumstances and culture. It follows that circumstances and social determinants dictate a woman’s role in …

Gender Violence, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the New UN Envoy, Heads Into Her Job Sprinting

Stéphanie Fillion

• March 5, 2021

When she arrived in Turtle Bay the morning of Feb. 25, a day after being sworn in as United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield didn’t hide the tight timeline she had inherited in her new post, which includes president of the Security Council in March: “I’m not only hitting the ground …

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

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BOOKS

Ban Ki-moon Tells All: He Was Miserable Watching Trump Run Wild

Irwin Arieff

• March 2, 2021

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a memoir due out in June, is done concealing his anger over Donald Trump’s bad behavior on the international stage. The UN has always tried hard to maintain strong ties with the United States, its biggest dues-payer and the world’s leading superpower. And Ban, it seems, was …

BOOKS, Nuclear Disarmament, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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The UN Nuclear Watchdog Reaches a Temporary Inspection Plan With Iran

Stephanie Liechtenstein

• February 21, 2021

VIENNA — Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, that it will significantly limit inspections of its nuclear facilities as of Feb. 23. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the Vienna-based agency, traveled to Tehran over the weekend to meet with Iranian officials to try to preserve at …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

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UN Probe Details Atrocities in Mali and Civilian Deaths From French Airstrikes

Clair MacDougall

• February 8, 2021

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — A recent United Nations investigation has documented years of grave human-rights violations, including war crimes and other atrocities, in Mali that have gone unpunished as the UN peacekeeping mission there struggles to stabilize the troubled West African nation. A highly detailed, 336-page report on the abuses, obtained in full by …