Jeffrey Feltman

• April 23, 2021

The Joe Biden climate-fest; rape as a weapon of war in Tigray; Burma slides further downhill. 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. Laura Kirkpatrick, who manages our Facebook page, created an informal poll based …

Climate and Environment, General Assembly, Middle East, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Lebanon’s Crisis on Top of a Crisis: Our Latest Podcast Episode

Stéphanie Fillion and Kacie Candela

• August 17, 2020

The devastating series of explosions that rocked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on Aug. 4, killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands of others, destroyed most of the city’s port, flattened surrounding neighborhoods, damaged six hospitals and more than 20 health clinics and wiped out 120 schools. Five days later, on Aug. 9, the international …

Covid-19, Middle East, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Now That She’s Gone: Nikki Haley’s Legacy at the UN

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• January 9, 2019

After two years as the American ambassador at the United Nations, Nikki Haley left the job in December 2018 as much an enigma as the day she arrived. Haley, a career politician, came to the UN with little foreign policy experience but national recognition for her handling of a domestic terror attack while governor …

Nikki Haley Watch, US-UN Relations

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P5 MONITOR

As Moon Meets Kim, Who Will Eventually Claim Credit for a Korean Peace Deal?

Enrico Carisch

• April 26, 2018

Two important global events that are about to happen may sound alluring to some Americans: first, the United States government may jettison or significantly alter the nuclear deal with Iran; and Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea will begin to negotiate terms for long-overdue peace with South Korean President Moon Jae In, when …

Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, P5 Monitor, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Guterres’s Grand Plan to Remake the UN’s Peace and Security ‘Pillar’

Dulcie Leimbach

• October 20, 2017

Considerable restructuring of the peacekeeping, political affairs and peace-building departments of the United Nations is being proposed by Secretary-General António Guterres as he continues to embark on reforming the world body, which contends with increasingly complex crises and conflicts each year. In a 16-page document obtained by PassBlue and to be submitted soon to the UN’s …

General Assembly, Geopolitics, Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

The UN Formalizes Its Partnership With Sant’Egidio, the Rome-Based Mediator

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 9, 2017

The United Nations has formalized its relationship with the Community of Sant’Egidio, the highly regarded Catholic membership organization based in Rome that has been focusing on conflict prevention and resolution, primarily in Africa, for 30 years. A community of 60,000 laypeople founded in 1968, Sant’Egidio has been working with the UN on mediation prospects …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Human Trafficking, International Justice, Libya, Migration, Peace and Security

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GEOPOLITICS

Russia and US Clash on Syria in the UN Security Council, Once Again

Barbara Crossette

• April 7, 2017

Russia called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday, a day after the United States launched a missile attack in Syria. But Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, faced a tough response from the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who castigated the Russians for supporting …

Geopolitics, Security Council, Syria

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A UN Resolution Is Being Readied for Boko Haram Fight

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 23, 2015

Chad is not only leading the regional military assault on the Boko Haram terrorist group but it is also said to be leading the drafting of a United Nations Security Council resolution to authorize the multinational task force in West Africa already battling Boko Haram, a UN diplomat confirmed. The resolution is being pushed …

Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council

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As UN Monitoring Mission Dies in Syria, a New Envoy Is Named

Dulcie Leimbach

• August 16, 2012

The United Nations Security Council will not renew the mandate for the monitoring mission it set up in Syria this spring to supervise a peace plan that never materialized. The mandate for the UN Supervision Mission, called Unsmis, expires Aug. 19. The unarmed mission, renewed in July for 30 days, is down to 100 …

Middle East, Security Council

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GOINGS-ON

Ban Ki-moon’s New Team Earning Positive Reviews

Barbara Crossette

• August 8, 2012

When leaders of the world start descending on the United Nations in September for the opening of a new General Assembly session, there will two new internationally well-known figures in prominent positions at the top of the organization. In July, Jan Eliasson of Sweden became the UN’s deputy secretary-general, and in mid-August, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal …

GOINGS-ON, Secretary-General

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GOINGS-ON

A Possible Replacement for UN Political Affairs Chief

PassBlue

• April 30, 2012

Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs at the US State Department, is said to be replacing B. Lynn Pascoe, the United Nations’ under secretary-general for political affairs, who has served for five years. The announcement has not been made formally by the UN, but it was reported in UN Forum, …