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WORLDVIEWS

All Fuss and No Substance on the Middle East ‘Breakthrough’

• August 18, 2020

Talking heads are showering Donald Trump with praise over his surprise unveiling of an agreement that he said would alter the Middle East landscape by building a diplomatic bridge between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. If completed as advertised, the deal would indeed, as Trump tweeted, be a “huge breakthrough,” as it would …

Middle East, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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Will the Human Rights Council’s Rare Steps to Combat Racism Make a Difference?

• July 29, 2020

GENEVA — In early June, some family members of victims of police killings in the United States and more than 600 civil society organizations worldwide wrote to the United Nations Human Rights Council to request that it urgently hold a special session on the US. They did so in reaction to the grave human-rights crisis …

Human Rights, WORLDVIEWS

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The Future of Nuclear Arms Control: Time to Change Course

Angela Kane and Noah Mayhew

• July 14, 2020

VIENNA — As Russian and American leaders have gathered once more here to discuss bilateral arms control, some experts wonder if arms control is outdated. Earlier this year, Chris Ford, a United States official for international security and nonproliferation, said that discussions on arms control amounted to mere “nuclear identity politics,” and Russia’s Vladimir …

Disarmament, WORLDVIEWS

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Peacekeeping Bosses Should Be Chosen by the UN and Not the Paymasters

Kseniya Oksamytna and Vincenzo Bove and Magnus Lundgren

• July 7, 2020

Leaders of United Nations peacekeeping operations comprise an important and unique category of high-level officials in the world body. They have a difficult and often thankless job of trying to manage “Christmas tree” mandates handed down by the Security Council while keeping great powers and national authorities happy. Along the way, these leaders enjoy …

Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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Another Eastern European Nation Gets Tangled in US Politics

• March 1, 2020

Days after Richard Grenell was recently named by President Trump as the United States’ acting national director of intelligence — America’s chief spy — a media site reported that Grenell had worked for an Eastern European politician whom the US has accused of corruption and barred from the country. Grenell, who is in the …

US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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How the US Enabled Aggressions by China and Russia at the UN

Geoffrey Roberts

• February 24, 2020

For the last decade, Western democracies and human-rights defenders have been locked in a tense struggle with authoritarian great powers at the United Nations. Since 2009, Russia and China have waged a highly successful campaign to dismantle the international human-rights system, particularly through the Human Rights Council. The two countries have made strides especially …

Human Rights, WORLDVIEWS

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Will the UN-75 Declaration Signify More Than a Birthday Party?

• February 17, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres used his annual State of the World speech to the General Assembly last month to outline his 2020 priorities. He stressed four threats to progress in the 21st century: growing geostrategic tensions and mass violence in fragile states, creating an unprecedented refugee crisis; the climate catastrophe; rising mistrust …

Secretary-General, UN75, WORLDVIEWS

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Myanmar’s Silence on Rape Against Rohingya Is Cruel and Dangerous

Akila Radhakrishnan

• January 21, 2020

Last month, the world was struck by an unusual image — that of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi — standing in court to defend and deny genocide. What was striking was not only what she and Myanmar’s legal team said but also what wasn’t said: the total failure of Myanmar …

Gender Violence, International Justice, Myanmar, WORLDVIEWS

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Can UN Development Be Reformed? Not at This Rate

• January 6, 2020

GENEVA — Like his predecessors, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has been pushing a reform program to help the organization adjust to the demands of contemporary global governance. Over nearly 75 years, the UN has innovated and adapted. At first, humanitarian assistance was not envisaged to go beyond the needs of people displaced by …

Development, SDGs, WORLDVIEWS

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My Beautiful Christmas in Kabul

• December 24, 2019

The Christmas spirit finally found me drinking whisky on a rooftop in Kabul. Given my multinational background — I’m from Boston but my father came from Iraq and my mother from London — it’s not surprising that I chose a career in foreign affairs. When people learn I spent nearly a decade in Afghanistan, …

WORLDVIEWS

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For South Sudan, the Promise of Full Dialogue Lies Ahead

• December 17, 2019

ROME, Italy — The clock is ticking for South Sudan. Many powerful players in the international community have expressed openly their disappointment at the reluctance of South Sudan power-brokers to resolve their violence-prone country. Meanwhile, the people of South Sudan are clearly signaling their readiness for peace and their support for new approaches that …

Africa, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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‘Sextortion’: The Worst Form of Corruption Across the Globe

• December 13, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For more than a year, a BBC television team went undercover at the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana, where young female students are routinely extorted by professors. They are vulnerable because they either seek to gain admission to the universities or to secure good grades to allow them …

Gender Violence, Human Trafficking, WORLDVIEWS

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It’s Time to Increase Parliaments’ Engagement With Human Rights

Brian Chang and Murray Hunt

• December 5, 2019

As protection of human rights seems to be sliding everywhere, the international human-rights system has responded by focusing on national implementation, to ensure that states’ international commitments are translated into meaningful changes felt by people on the ground. While often overlooked, parliaments can provide a critical link between global agreements and domestic progress on …

Human Rights, WORLDVIEWS

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The New Boss at the UN’s Nuclear-Power Watchdog Is Inheriting Many Problems

• December 1, 2019

VIENNA, Austria — Ensconced near the Danube River in this European city is the headquarters of the world’s single-most important means of ensuring safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear energy. Created in 1957, four years after United States President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his famous “Atoms for Peace” speech at the United Nations, the International …

Disarmament, WORLDVIEWS

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Rape Prosecution Must Drive the New Rohingya Genocide Court Case

Susan Hutchinson

• November 25, 2019

The recent case lodged by The Gambia with the International Court of Justice against Myanmar’s persecution of the Rohingya is the first time that rape will be prosecuted as genocide at the court, which is based in The Hague. The case has the potential to enhance feminist international law, while reinforcing the need to …

International Justice, Myanmar, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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