Samantha Power

Anti-Asian Threats; Troubles in the UN Humanitarian Aid Agency?; Yes, the UN Still Matters

March 26, 2021

Anti-Asian violence; the closing window for a woman secretary-general; a UN expert threatened by Saudi Arabia; the UN’s humanitarian-aid agency cries out for changes. 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. Barbara Crossette, who …

Development, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, This Week @UN, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

6 African Peacekeepers Killed; UN Chief Pursues a Second Term; US Sanctions Houthis in Yemen

January 15, 2021

by Ivana Ramirez

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres pursues a second term; a total of six peacekeepers were killed in Mali and the Central African Republic; Britain helps raise $1 billion for the UN’s Covax vaccine program. You are reading This Week @UN, a summary of the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered …

Africa, General Assembly, Human Rights, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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China and Russia Win Human Rights Council Seats, but the Saudis Get Rejected

October 13, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

Nearly two and a half years after the United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council, China and Russia have just won elected seats in the body. Both countries suffer from human-rights abuses against their own populations. China and Russia join 13 others as Council members for three-year terms starting on Jan. 1, 2021, …

Human Rights, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

Climate Change Risks, Israel-Palestine Covid-19 Crisis, UN’s Partial Reopening

July 24, 2020

by Allison Lecce

The Security Council held a climate change and security debate, led by Germany, nearly 10 years since the first and last time the Council met on this specific issue and agreed to a presidential statement on it. The Dominican Republic also led a meeting on climate change in January 2019. Although no resolution was …

Climate and Environment, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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BOOKS

An Irish-American Idealist: Samantha Power

July 18, 2020

by Lucia Mouat

In her enjoyable memoir, “The Education of an Idealist,” Samantha Power shifts easily between her family life and her challenging career adventures. She draws on her Irish roots in storytelling — coming to the United States from Dublin at age 9 with her mother and younger brother. And she makes no effort along the …

BOOKS

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COVID-19

Sergio, Legendary UN Troubleshooter, Gets His Own Hollywood Biopic

April 16, 2020

by Dali ten Hove

The much-anticipated biopic among United Nations watchers, “Sergio,” a drama relating the tale of Sergio Vieira de Mello, opened today on Netflix. It features the actors Wagner Moura as Sergio and Ana de Armas as his partner, Carolina Larriera. Who was Sergio Vieira de Mello? And why is he the subject of a Hollywood …

Covid-19, UN Diplomats

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BOOKS

A Most Influential Actor: The US Ambassador to the UN

February 1, 2020

by Helmut Volger

Everyone familiar with the United Nations knows that its relationship with its key member, the United States, has been and still is subject to far-reaching changes. The periods when the US administration and the Congress make use of the competencies of the United Nations in shaping their foreign policies depend on the administration and …

BOOKS, US-UN Relations

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Trump’s Pick for UN Diplomat in Geneva Vows to Oppose Reproductive Rights and Put America First

June 26, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

“I am pro-life, I believe that all human life is sacred, and that human life begins at conception,” Andrew Bremberg told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently. Asked if rape victims should have access to abortion, he replied, “I don’t believe that abortion is a moral solution to any problem.” Nominated by …

Human Rights, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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Pulling Back the Curtain on the US Mission to the UN

May 22, 2019

by Kacie Candela

The next United States ambassador to the United Nations, which could be Kelly Knight Craft, will arrive at a US mission to the UN that is far diminished in size and stature than the one her immediate predecessor, Nikki Haley, inherited. In the last month, numerous former staff members and high-level personnel from the …

General Assembly, Security Council, UN Diplomats, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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Senate Hearing for Heather Nauert as US Envoy to UN Could Happen in February

January 14, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

President Trump announced that he was nominating Heather Nauert, the chief State Department spokesperson, to succeed Nikki Haley as the United States ambassador to the United Nations on Dec. 7, 2018, after Haley resigned the job in October. Since Trump’s announcement, by tweet, much has been reported on the nomination and bare-bones experience of …

Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Dear Ambassador Haley: Diplomacy Is a Team Sport

November 7, 2017

by Irwin Arieff

When working on sticky world problems, should the United States use the United Nations as a forum to try to drum up global support for its policies, reasoning that it gains strength by linking its interests to as many other countries as possible? Or should it stand alone in a blind embrace of President …

Africa, Nikki Haley Watch, Refugees, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Is Nikki Haley Using the UN as a Political Ladder? Could Be

August 2, 2017

by Jeffrey Laurenti

The uncanny success of Nikki Haley in becoming the most public and quotable voice on President Trump’s foreign-policy team, combined with the telegenic United Nations ambassador’s apparent disinterest in the nuts and bolts of how it actually works, has piqued speculation among New York’s busy diplomats and idle diplomat-watchers alike: what is Haley’s game …

Nikki Haley Watch, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

UN’s South Sudan Experts Criticized for Weapons Claims Amid Larger Problems

July 11, 2017

by Ben Whitford

A hard-hitting report published in April 2017 by the United Nations Security Council sanctions panel monitoring South Sudan was potentially marred by weakly sourced allegations about arms sales from Egypt and elsewhere, according to a senior Egyptian diplomat and two former UN sanctions experts. The perceived flaws in the South Sudan panel’s work are …

Africa, Geopolitics, Peace and Security, Security Council

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Nikki Haley, Seeking the Right Style to Make Big Statements

May 20, 2017

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

If Nikki Haley is dressing for attention, honestly, it would be hard to fault her. One of the few women named to President Trump’s administration, Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who is the ambassador to the United Nations, has been set adrift in a different region of the country, in foreign policy …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Was the US a Bad Host at the UN Women’s Conference?

March 25, 2017

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

The annual women’s conference at the United Nations may have encountered severe weather on its second day, when a blizzard swept through the region and events had to be canceled at the UN, but the real storm originated with the actions of the host country, the United States. Indeed, the role that the US …