Dag Hammarskjold

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

• 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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Brian Urquhart, a Revered UN Diplomat Across Decades, Dies at 101

Stephen Schlesinger

• January 3, 2021

Brian Urquhart, who spent most of his adult life in service to the United Nations, died on Saturday, Jan. 2, at his home in Tyringham, Mass., in the Berkshires, where he retired after serving as one of the most notable figures in the history of the UN. In his tenure, he embodied the very narrative …

UN Diplomats

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‘He Is Who He Is’: 4 Experts Assess the Record of the UN’s António Guterres

Barbara Crossette

• December 14, 2020

Ever since the day in 1946 when the first secretary-general of the United Nations, Trygve Lie of Norway, took office, big powers have meddled in how the job is done. Most often, the United States has been the most intrusive. Lie resigned in 1953, before the end of his second, shortened term, with his …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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UN75

Will the UN Make It to 100?

Thomas G. Weiss

• June 2, 2020

Seventy-five years ago this month, delegates in San Francisco signed the United Nations Charter. Anniversary events were supposed to culminate in the commemoration of the entry into force of the world organization’s constitution on Oct. 24. That, of course, was before Covid-19 turned the world upside-down. Like school and university commencements, the UN’s celebration …

UN75, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

The UN Security Council Is MIA as the Coronavirus Ravages the World

Mona Ali Khalil

• March 24, 2020

Although much of the world is closing temporarily due to the rapid spread of Covid-19, the United Nations Security Council must stay open — meeting physically if possible and virtually if not — in order to fulfill its Charter responsibilities not only to address the threats posed by the pandemic but also to respond …

Covid-19, Health and Population, Security Council

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COVID-19

In a Crisis, Does the UN Have a Leadership Succession Plan?

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• March 23, 2020

António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, continues to go into the UN headquarters building in New York City to work — even as Covid-19 races throughout the region. “Right now, Guterres is probably the safest man on the planet,” said a former UN official familiar with the security protocol. “He’s working at an empty …

Covid-19, Health and Population, Secretary-General

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WORLDVIEWS

Stalling the UN Report on Dag Hammarskjold’s Death Is Regrettable

Maurin Picard

• September 17, 2019

Fifty-eight years ago, Dag Hammarskjold, the United Nations secretary-general at the time, set off on a perilous journey across the African heartland. Taking off at 4:51 P.M. from Léopoldville, in the capital of the newly independent Congo, he was due to meet the leader of the secessionist Katanga province. The venue chosen was Ndola, …

Africa, General Assembly, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Happy 100th Birthday, Sir Brian Urquhart, Heart of the UN

Stephen Schlesinger

• May 8, 2019

Sir Brian Urquhart has celebrated his 100th birthday this year. This is an eventful moment. Sir Brian is one of the most notable figures in the history of the United Nations. Urquhart has spent most of his entire life in service to the UN and, in his tenure, embodied the very narrative of the …

WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

The Elusive Truth About the Death of Dag Hammarskjold and My Father

Hynrich W. Wieschhoff

• February 5, 2019

My clock radio clicked on. The morning news bulletin announced that United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane was missing. It was Sept. 18, 1961. I was 16. Over the next hours, my mother and sisters and I learned that Mr. Hammarskjöld, accompanied by Dad and 14 others, had flown from Leopoldville, in the Congo, …

Africa, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

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

Thomas G. Weiss

• September 18, 2018

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 …

Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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In an Unusual Move, the UN Security Council Is Heading to Sweden for a Retreat

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 19, 2018

The United Nations Security Council, perhaps needing a change of scenery from its chamber overlooking the East River in New York, is traveling to the southern Swedish coast in April for an annual retreat whose theme this year is “a new narrative on peace operations.” The retreat will be held in a newly renovated …

Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council

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WORLDVIEWS

Has Anyone Seen the UN Secretary-General’s Human Rights Agenda?

Bertrand G. Ramcharan

• August 22, 2017

Secretary-General António Guterres has set about modernizing some sectors of the United Nations and made impassioned statements about the need to protect human rights. But beyond rhetoric, so far there has been no indication of his modernizing the human-rights sector. We have seen this before. Dag Hammarskjold, a previous secretary-general, undoubtedly believed in human …

Human Rights, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Dear Mr. Guterres: Please Be a Hammarskjoldian Secretary-General

Bruce W. Jentleson

• October 19, 2016

As much as this moment of unity among the United States, Russia and other Security Council members coming together on António Guterres as the next United Nations secretary-general is to be relished, it’s not just the who that matters. It’s the what of the job. Unless the big powers are willing to let Guterres …

WORLDVIEWS

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Civil and Polite, Nations Participate in First-Ever UN Security Council Election Hearings

Vesna Jaksic Lowe

• May 25, 2016

Thailand said it had no enemies, while Kazakhstan pointed out it had voluntarily given up the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world more than two decades ago. Sweden emphasized it was militarily nonaligned. Italy, the only Mediterranean candidate, said it could ensure geographic balance because it sits at the crossroads of the east and …

General Assembly, Security Council

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A UN First After 70 Years: Open Campaigning for Secretary-General

Barbara Crossette

• April 17, 2016

It was a week unprecedented in the history of the United Nations. From April 12 to 14, nine candidates for the office of secretary-general were put on a public stage in front of the world to make their cases as to why they should be elected to follow Ban-Ki-moon when his term ends this …