Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani

Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani are former United Nations staff members.

Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani

Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani are former United Nations staff members.

WORLDVIEWS

UN-Watchers Expect the Worst From Trump at General Assembly Next Week

September 16, 2020

by Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani

The General Assembly is surely going to be a very interesting place this month — even if world leaders are staying home for the annual opening debate because of the pandemic. On Monday, Sept. 21, the General Assembly is hosting a special session to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. For this …

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

One Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

Beijing+25; ICC Prosecutor Sanctioned by US; Niger Leads the Security Council

September 5, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

The 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; the United States sanctions the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; dissecting the failed ambitions of the US effort to force the UN mission in Lebanon to be more aggressive. Greetings from This Week @UN, our summary highlighting the most important news on the …

Middle East, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

One Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

UN Staffers’ Right to Protest, More Struggles in Mali, US to Sanction ICC Employees

June 12, 2020

by Allison Lecce

Starting in June, a summary of the most important news on the United Nations’ work in New York City and worldwide will be highlighted weekly. The news will be drawn from the UN spokesperson’s media briefings, our original reporting and other sources. We look forward to your feedback on this new series, called This …

This Week @UN

Leave a Comment

COVID-19

Is It a Crime to Mishandle a Public Health Response?

April 26, 2020

by David J. Scheffer

As the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19, continues to threaten lives and livelihoods around the world, many people are seeking to hold government and corporate leaders to account for their blunders during the pandemic. But in the United States and many other countries, public health malpractice is a relatively underdeveloped area of the law, and …

Covid-19, International Justice

Leave a Comment

The only talk show of its kind in the world

At the UN, Scrooge Haunts the Holiday Season

December 20, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

In this season of giving, the United States delegation offered free bourbon from Kentucky to the media and is splurging on a holiday party paid for by Kelly Knight Craft, the US ambassador, while in more serious business at the United Nations, the Russians not only held up a vote for one day regarding …

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

One Comment

WORLDVIEWS

Rape Prosecution Must Drive the New Rohingya Genocide Court Case

November 25, 2019

by Susan Hutchinson

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

Leave a Comment

GEOPOLITICS

Trump Wants a New ‘Liberal’ World Order, Pompeo Tells Europe

December 6, 2018

by Barbara Crossette

They call it the “Trump effect” and it is permeating and weakening support for numerous international agreements still in their formative stages. For governments, diplomats and civil society around the world, accustomed to bombastic outbursts from Donald Trump, American policy appears to be consolidating into more than ad hoc attacks on efforts to tackle …

Geopolitics, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

The UN’s Combat Troops in the Congo: ‘They Were Not Supposed to Die’

November 29, 2018

by Dulcie Leimbach

United Nations peacekeepers working for the mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were killed by a militia in a jungle in North Kivu Province on Nov. 15, leaving seven soldiers dead: six Malawians and one Tanzanian. Ten were injured. Twelve members of the Congolese armed forces were also killed, as national forces …

Africa, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations

Leave a Comment

Checking on the Health of the International Criminal Court

December 8, 2016

by Dulcie Leimbach

THE HAGUE — At the glassy, eco-minded new building of the International Criminal Court here in the Netherlands’ capital, people who are being tried may still be called “detainees,” but make no mistake: they remain accused of such atrocities as murder, torture and child-soldier recruitment as well as gang-raping women and girls. It’s business …

Africa, Child Soldiers, Gender-Based Violence, ICC, International Justice

Leave a Comment

South African Decision to Quit the ICC Draws Critics in Africa and Beyond

October 24, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

South Africa’s announcement on Oct. 21 that it intends to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, has met strong opposition from civil society groups in that country and other African and international human-rights organizations. Africa has played major roles in the independent court, …

Africa, ICC, International Justice

Leave a Comment

A Top Candidate Is Sidelined for the Post of UN Expert on Torture

September 4, 2016

by Dali ten Hove

The United Nations Human Rights Council will soon choose five new experts to monitor various human-rights topics, with nominees put forth by the council’s president. One top candidate, on torture, has stirred up controversy, and recently, his candidacy was sidelined for the second-top candidate in an unusual decision by the council president. Special procedures, …

Human Rights

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

One Year Later, the World Must Stop Boko Haram Genocide

April 16, 2015

by Janet Benshoof

It was a year ago this week that the terrorist group Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) not long ago, carried out a late-night abduction of 276 girls from their boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria, loading them into trucks and disappearing into the dense forest. The …

WORLDVIEWS

3 Comments

Palestinians Move Fast to Join the ICC as Bid for Full Statehood Fails at the UN

December 31, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

The Palestinians’ failed proposal to formally establish a state and end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories by late 2017 through a vote in the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 30 continued to reflect the immense influence of the United States on the Palestinians’ ability to assert themselves through the world body. The …

ICC, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

Next Best in 2016? The UN Secretary-General Must Be a Reformer

December 9, 2014

by Stephen Browne and Thomas G. Weiss

GENEVA — For only the second time — the first was in 1996 — the electoral campaigns for the American president and the United Nations secretary-general are running in parallel. Both promise to be long and protracted. Each already has a growing slate of presumptive candidates pounding flesh and employing lobbyists. But the next …

WORLDVIEWS

Leave a Comment

New Protocols and Policies Tackle Sexual Violence in War

June 19, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

As Sunni Muslim extremists first seized strategic cities in Iraq last week, and a United Nations spokesman for the human-rights high commissioner, Navi Pillay, said that rapes had been part of the mayhem, leaving four female victims dead from suicide, the first global conference to end such heinous crimes took place in London. There, …

Child Soldiers, Gender-Based Violence, ICC, International Justice, Women

Leave a Comment

Support Independent Journalism - Support PassBlue - Find out how →

Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani

Harris Gleckman and Khalil Hamdani

UN-Watchers Expect the Worst From Trump at General Assembly Next Week

Beijing+25; ICC Prosecutor Sanctioned by US; Niger Leads the Security Council

UN Staffers’ Right to Protest, More Struggles in Mali, US to Sanction ICC Employees

Is It a Crime to Mishandle a Public Health Response?

At the UN, Scrooge Haunts the Holiday Season

Rape Prosecution Must Drive the New Rohingya Genocide Court Case

Trump Wants a New ‘Liberal’ World Order, Pompeo Tells Europe

The UN’s Combat Troops in the Congo: ‘They Were Not Supposed to Die’

Checking on the Health of the International Criminal Court

South African Decision to Quit the ICC Draws Critics in Africa and Beyond

A Top Candidate Is Sidelined for the Post of UN Expert on Torture

One Year Later, the World Must Stop Boko Haram Genocide

Palestinians Move Fast to Join the ICC as Bid for Full Statehood Fails at the UN

Next Best in 2016? The UN Secretary-General Must Be a Reformer

New Protocols and Policies Tackle Sexual Violence in War

This Week's Most Popular

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights: How Equality Became a US Foreign Policy Priority

Russia Brings Human Contact Back to the UN Security Council

Can the “Third UN” Reimagine Post-Covid Global Cooperation?

International Election Monitors Arrive in the US for the Nov. 3 Poll

The UN’s 12th Nobel Peace Prize: Our Latest Podcast Episode

UN-Scripted, the Passblue UN podcast series

PassBlue is a partner with the New School - Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs