Olof Skoog

The UN’s Humanitarian Aid Agency, Ready for a New Boss and Possibly a New Management Style

• March 22, 2021

The United Nations’ top agency for humanitarian aid is poised for a new boss to arrive, one who could instill a management style far removed from what some of its staffers call a “neocolonial mind-set” under the outgoing head, Mark Lowcock, a Briton. As Secretary-General António Guterres decides on who will next lead the …

Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, UN Agencies

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Why the EU Is Hopeful About the UN in 2021: An Interview With Ambassador Olof Skoog

Dulcie Leimbach

• January 12, 2021

Olof Skoog knows the United Nations like the back of his hand. As the European Union ambassador to the world body since 2019, he speaks for the 27-member bloc at the UN headquarters in New York City; most recently, he was Sweden’s envoy to the UN. He is known for his optimism — even …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, UN Diplomats, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Striking a Better Balance in the Newest UN Peacekeeping Reforms

Maria Luisa Gambale

• October 4, 2018

Just days before the United Nations held a meeting with heads of state and foreign ministers on Secretary-General António Guterres’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2436 on peace operations, on Sept. 21. Drafted by the United States, the resolution is the result of collaboration between Council members and …

Geopolitics, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Sweden’s Priorities in the Security Council: Being Prepared, Including for the World Cup

Stéphanie Fillion

• July 5, 2018

Welcome to our new column, Security Council Presidency, providing insight into the United Nations Security Council member sitting in the rotating seat of the president every month, starting in July with Sweden and its ambassador, Olof Skoog. The column is meant to be an informative capsule of not only the country’s ambassador but also …

Climate Change, Security Council, Security Council Presidency

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GEOPOLITICS

UN Is Examining Its Security Policies After Murders in Congo

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 21, 2017

A board of inquiry looking into major gaps or flaws in United Nations security policies that might have contributed to the murders of two UN experts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was set up May 1, according to documents not released to the public yet. The board is to travel to the …

Africa, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, Security Council

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Italy and Netherlands to Share a UN Security Council Seat Over Two-Year Term

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 28, 2016

In a narrow vote conducted over seven hours amid five rounds of inconclusive balloting between Italy and the Netherlands for an elected seat on the United Nations Security Council, the two nations decided to split the two-year term. Italy will get one year, as of January 2017; and the Netherlands will take the seat …

Security Council

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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 …