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    WORLDVIEWS

    The UN Is Under Siege, So Where Is the Secretary-General?

    by  • September 18, 2018 • Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS • 

    Was it only two years ago that so many people were elated by the appointment of António Guterres as secretary-general of the United Nations? After public debates organized by the president of the General Assembly and informal ones by the 1-for-7-Billion “Find the Best UN Leader” coalition, he emerged as the top candidate in...

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    The UN Mission in Lebanon, Saved From the US Ax for Another Year

    by  • September 11, 2018 • Middle East, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS • 

    BEIRUT — In late August, the United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed its peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon, called Unifil. The less confrontational tone around the negotiation of Resolution 2433, contrasting with the heated debate on the renewal a year ago, can be read as a positive sign for Lebanon and the UN. It...

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    The Devastating Decline of Human-Rights Justice Across the World

    by  • August 20, 2018 • Human Rights, International Justice, WORLDVIEWS • 

    The soul of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights is being destroyed with the disappearance of human-rights justice in the world. Everyone should be concerned if not frightened. The appointment of Michelle Bachelet of Chile as UN high commissioner for human rights, who has personally experienced injustice, offers hope that her voice will...

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    Violence Against Women Worsens by the Day in the Congo

    by  • July 26, 2018 • Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS • 

    Justine Bihamba

    The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been placed on the United Nations Security Council agenda for several decades, in one form or another through various peacekeeping missions. The Council regularly meets on the status of the Congo, with the most recent session occurring on July 26, 2018, concentrating on progress toward scheduled presidential and...

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    The UN Secretary-General’s Human-Rights Crisis Can Be Solved

    by  • June 26, 2018 • General Assembly, Human Rights, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS • 2 Comments

    There is a crisis in the United Nations human-rights system. Secretary-General António Guterres can lead the way out of it. Indeed, the world continues to look to the UN secretary-general to stand up for the principles of the organization. One of the highest responsibilities of the incumbent is to help steer a course toward...

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    Do We Even Need the UN? An Academic’s Quest to Find the Answer

    by  • June 24, 2018 • Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS • 

    Would the world be better off without the United Nations? The question couldn’t be more important in the age of Trump and his rejection of multilateral institutions as well as traditional allies. Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science at the City University of New York Graduate Center, took on this question, speaking...

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    The UN’s Emphasis on Prevention Could Use Lessons From the Case of Guinea

    by  • June 18, 2018 • Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Responsibility to Protect, Secretary-General, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS • 

    Historically neglected, gender-based violence is now becoming broadly recognized as a legitimate and urgent agenda item among the United Nations member nations, notably in the UN’s most powerful forum, the Security Council. But the future of the agenda is uncertain, as priorities remain unclear and inadequate methods for preventing sexual violence against women keep...

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    Brazil Can Lead the Way on Managing the World’s Refugee Crisis

    by  • June 5, 2018 • Migration, Refugees, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS • 

    RIO DE JANEIRO — Only weeks from the start of the 2018 World Cup, soccer teams of refugees from Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Angola, Burkina Faso and Gambia who had migrated to Brazil became the protagonists in a recent soccer competition: the Multicultural Cup, organized by Instituto Adus, a nongovernmental...

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    To Help the World Sleep Better, Salvage the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

    by  • May 25, 2018 • Nuclear Disarmament, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS • 1 Comment

    If United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo follows through with his threat to impose “the strongest sanctions in history” on Iran, the United States should be prepared for Iran to retaliate by withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Last month, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security...

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    The UN’s Cruz Report on Improving Peacekeepers’ Security Goes Too Far

    by  • May 20, 2018 • Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS • 7 Comments

    Since 1999, the United Nations Security Council has consistently entrusted its peacekeeping operations with clear authority to use force beyond self-defense — primarily for the protection of civilians. To fulfill the mandate, the Council expects UN peacekeeping forces to take preventive as well as responsive actions; to proactively patrol the local communities; to project a...

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    The UN and #MeToo: All Forms of Abuse Must End Now

    by  • May 9, 2018 • Gender-Based Violence, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS • 1 Comment

    For many years now, media attention on sexual abuse and exploitation by United Nations peacekeepers cornered the UN and pushed it toward reform. Now, the #MeToo movement has put the organization — and many other major institutions across the world — on red alert. But UN insiders and supporters are wondering if the leadership’s...

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    Why Syria Will Need a UN Peacekeeping Force (Called Unshams)

    by  • May 3, 2018 • Peace and Security, Syria, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS • 4 Comments

    After seven years of horrific fighting, it appears that the Syrian civil war is inching toward a conclusion. In the wake of recent alleged chemical attacks unleashed in Eastern Ghouta, Bashar al-Assad’s regime is squeezing remaining rebel forces, largely herding them — and thousands of civilians — into the northwest in Idlib Province, where...

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    Can the UN Finally Get Serious About Inefficiencies in Its Development System?

    by  • April 25, 2018 • Development, WORLDVIEWS • 

    BONN, Germany — Member states of the United Nations are now negotiating reform proposals for the world body’s development system. In the latest draft resolution, they welcome the secretary-general’s proposal for “advancing common business operations” and “request” for their “implementation,” in line with earlier decisions by the General Assembly (a previous draft requested “full implementation”)....

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    With UN Security Council Reform, Bigger Is Not Better

    by  • March 28, 2018 • General Assembly, Peace and Security, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS • 

    Much ado — during 25 years of fruitless negotiations — has been made about the need for the United Nations General Assembly to achieve more equitable geographical representation in the UN Security Council. Article 23(1) of the UN Charter, however, also requires the Assembly, in electing the nonpermanent members of the Council, to pay...

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    How to Use UN Sanctions More Strategically to Stop Rape in War

    by  • March 26, 2018 • Security Council, WORLDVIEWS • 1 Comment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The weaponization of sexual violence by Syrian government forces, as part of a campaign to punish opposition communities, was stunningly documented in a recent report by investigators for the United Nations. Women and girls have been subjected to rape, gang rape and genital mutilation, perpetrated by government forces and associated militias....

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    Who Says the UN Is Boring? Intrigue Always Abounds in Its Inner Core

    by  • March 20, 2018 • Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS • 

    Bureaucracies do not have a great reputation, and the United Nations bureaucracy is no exception. They are seen as inefficient, cumbersome and rigid, adjectives that are also routinely associated with the UN Secretariat. At best considered a “necessary evil,” bureaucracies tend to attract scorn rather than analysis. The UN Secretariat, however, is different. Although...

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