Security Council and Syria

America’s Blinken ‘Visits’ the UN; Mexico’s Split Personality on Women’s Rights; New Secretary-General Applicants

• April 2, 2021

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken dials the UN; Mexico’s dual-personality approach to women’s rights; a deadly French airstrike on a wedding in Mali; two new applicants for secretary-general. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting …

Africa, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

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

Ivana Ramirez

• 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 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

The Covid-19 Anniversary; Seeking a Woman Secretary-General; a Sad Women’s Day

Ivana Ramirez

• March 13, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic anniversary; digitally recruiting women to run for the United Nations’ top job; International Women’s Day, a bit of a downer. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from the UN spokesperson’s press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. We encourage you …

Cities, Gender Violence, Migration, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, Syria, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN-Led Peace Process for Syria Has Failed. Women Must Be Part of the Next One.

Mouna Ghanem

• March 8, 2021

COPENHAGEN — In her book, “The Second Sex,” Simone de Beauvoir argued that one is not born but rather becomes a woman. De Beauvoir emphasized that destiny is not a cosmic force but a human choice, a result of circumstances and culture. It follows that circumstances and social determinants dictate a woman’s role in …

Gender Violence, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Russia Brings Human Contact Back to the UN Security Council

Stéphanie Fillion

• October 4, 2020

From the very moment that the United Nations decided to work online, after the pandemic hit, Russia has been the strongest and loudest opponent of going virtual at the world body. For its Security Council presidency, in October, Russia finally got its way: the Council will be meeting once again in its chamber, sitting …

Africa, Middle East, Security Council Presidency

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THIS WEEK @UN

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

Allison Lecce

• July 24, 2020

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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As Explosive Weapons Kill More Civilians Abroad, US Companies Just Sell More of Them

Allison Lecce

• July 15, 2020

For the ninth year in a row, 90 percent of people killed by explosive weapons in urban areas were civilians. The use of these devices is proliferating in conflicts because they are becoming easier to come by — sometimes they are even homemade. The United States is the world’s largest overall exporter of arms …

Disarmament, Middle East, Security Council, Syria

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THIS WEEK @UN

Finally, a Global Cease-Fire Resolution, US-Iran Venom, Desperate Syrians

Allison Lecce

• July 2, 2020

The United States took a beating in the Security Council on Tuesday in its goal to extend the arms embargo in the Iran nuclear deal, but the next day all 15 members of the United Nations’ elite body adopted a resolution calling for a global cease-fire during the pandemic to enable successful humanitarian responses. …

This Week @UN

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

From Five to Four: Belgium Strives to Fill the European Gap in the Security Council Left by Brexit

Stéphanie Fillion

• February 6, 2020

In Brussels, the month started with the removal of Britain’s flag from the European Union headquarters, while in New York, Belgium became rotating president of the United Nations Security Council for February, ready to fill the political vacuum left by Britain’s departure from the European bloc on the Council, thanks to Brexit. PassBlue met …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Security Council Presidency, Syria

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Reading the US Presidential Tea Leaves: Do the Candidates Even Care About the UN?

Jeffrey Laurenti

• January 29, 2020

President Trump was at the United Nations last fall telling world leaders that “the future does not belong to globalists” when Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the United States House of Representatives would launch an inquiry into his possible impeachment. It was the same General Assembly whose derisive laughter at Trump’s boast a year before …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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At the UN, Scrooge Haunts the Holiday Season

Dulcie Leimbach

• December 20, 2019

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

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Britain’s Plan for the UN Security Council Presidency: Forget About Brexit

Stéphanie Fillion

• November 7, 2019

While Britain struggles to find an orderly way to exit the European Union after several years of attempting to do so, the country will highlight how other world problems affect ordinary people in its role as Security Council president in November. That focus definitely means avoiding the subject of Brexit! Britain, which has been …

Security Council Presidency

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GEOPOLITICS

Of Oil and Kalashnikovs: At the First Russia-Africa Summit, Putin Makes Power Plays

Joe Penney

• October 28, 2019

SOCHI, Russia — As the Turkish presidential plane carried President Recep Tayyip Erdogan across the Black Sea from Sochi, Russia, back to Ankara last week, dozens of African heads of state arrived in this resort city for the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit the next morning. During two days at a convention center in the Olympic …

Africa, Geopolitics, Security Council, US Foreign Relations

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A New OPCW Team Is Ready to Find the Culprits Behind Chemical Attacks in Syria

Johannes Visser

• May 6, 2019

THE HAGUE — The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is inching closer in trying to determine who instigated the various chemical attacks in Syria last year. In April 2018, gas cylinders filled with chlorine were dropped from a helicopter in the residential areas of Douma, outside the capital of Damascus. At least …

Asia, Disarmament, Security Council, Syria

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Children Trapped in Syria Suffering From the War

Lorraine Boissoneault

• May 8, 2013

As the Syrian government increasingly resorts to using heavy armaments and long-distance aircraft — and possibly chemical weapons — to attack the opposition movement and other enemies, the risk of children being killed or maimed in the fighting has risen sharply, says the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for …

Human Rights, Middle East, Refugees, Security Council

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WORLDVIEWS

She Had a Front-Row Role in the Early Days of the UN, but Is Forgotten Now

Erwin R. Tiongson

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Security Council and Syria

America’s Blinken ‘Visits’ the UN; Mexico’s Split Personality on Women’s Rights; New Secretary-General Applicants

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

The Covid-19 Anniversary; Seeking a Woman Secretary-General; a Sad Women’s Day

The UN-Led Peace Process for Syria Has Failed. Women Must Be Part of the Next One.

Russia Brings Human Contact Back to the UN Security Council

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

As Explosive Weapons Kill More Civilians Abroad, US Companies Just Sell More of Them

Finally, a Global Cease-Fire Resolution, US-Iran Venom, Desperate Syrians

From Five to Four: Belgium Strives to Fill the European Gap in the Security Council Left by Brexit

Reading the US Presidential Tea Leaves: Do the Candidates Even Care About the UN?

At the UN, Scrooge Haunts the Holiday Season

Britain’s Plan for the UN Security Council Presidency: Forget About Brexit

Of Oil and Kalashnikovs: At the First Russia-Africa Summit, Putin Makes Power Plays

A New OPCW Team Is Ready to Find the Culprits Behind Chemical Attacks in Syria

Children Trapped in Syria Suffering From the War

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On the Campaign Trail for the World’s ‘Most Impossible’ Job

China’s Agenda for May: Less on Myanmar, More on Tech, Peace and Security

Six Latin American Women Who Could Be the UN Leader Down the Road

The US Envoy on Racism; ‘Apartheid’ in the Mideast; UK’s Cuts to UN Agencies

UN-Scripted, Passblue's UN podcast series

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