Jeffrey Laurenti

Palestine v. Israel, and the US Democratic Race: Our Double-Episode Podcast

• February 20, 2020

President Trump has made good on his campaign promises to redefine America’s relationship with the rest of the world — for better or for worse — and the United Nations has in many ways been the epicenter of his “American First” policy abroad. Most recently, his peace proposal for Israel and Palestine scraps decades …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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Kofi Annan, 80, a Popular UN Secretary-General From Africa, Is Dead

Barbara Crossette

• August 18, 2018

Kofi Annan, the seventh and probably the most popular and widely respected secretary-general the United Nations has ever known, died unexpectedly in Bern, Switzerland, early on Saturday morning, Aug. 18. His death, reportedly from leukemia, followed what initial reports described only as a short illness. He led the UN for two terms, from 1997 …

Africa, Secretary-General

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Getting Young Americans to Think Globally in the ‘America First’ Era

Barbara Crossette

• June 25, 2018

In the wake of a spate of school shootings in the United States this year, students of high school and college age are forming political campaigns for change as the country moves toward critical legislative elections in November. These young people are registering voters, although many of them are too young to vote themselves, …

Education, US Foreign Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

The UN World Food Program Boss, Mixing Work With Religion?

Dulcie Leimbach

• January 31, 2018

David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program, based in Rome, posted a prayer at the top of his Twitter page in early January, reading: “My prayer for 2018: Peace. Our path to Zero Hunger begins with peace.” The page, @dbeasley1, is a hybrid of personal tweets and professional news about his …

Humanitarian Aid, Nikki Haley Watch, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

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The Field Grows and Shifts in the Race for UN Secretary-General

Barbara Crossette

• June 1, 2016

The second crop of campaigners making a pitch to replace Ban Ki-moon in January is now being assembled, and it looks like the first declared candidate on the list may well shake up the race. She is Susana Malcorra, Argentina’s foreign minister and a well-respected, internationally known former United Nations official. The next round …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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A Task for the Next UN Secretary-General: Review the Special Envoy System

Barbara Crossette

• February 23, 2016

When a tough independent report sharply criticized the United Nations in December for its bungled attempts to cover up, or at least ignore, the sexual abuse of children by peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic in recent years, it named among the people responsible for letting the children down Leila Zerrougui, Secretary-General Ban …

Secretary-General, UN Diplomats, UN Special Envoys

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A New UN Brigade Will Make Combat Moves in Congo

Lorraine Boissoneault

• April 11, 2013

For the first time, the United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution allowing UN troops to go on the offensive in a mission against armed rebels. The combat intervention brigade will operate as part of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco). …