UN secretary-general

• November 21, 2022

Globalization, with its pros and cons, is broken. The world is troubled by local and regional crises, and attempts to solve them are dividing countries, both small and large, in a way that prevents a common will from emerging to solve major global crises. Indeed, we are drifting toward a fatally dangerous situation where …

Secretary-General, Security Council, Ukraine-Russia War, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

A Better Way to Detect the Origins of a Pandemic

Angela Kane and Jaime Yassif

• July 26, 2022

The war in Ukraine has caused severe disruptions to regional and global security, including raising concerns about the potential use of unconventional weapons. Not least of these concerns is the dangerous Russian disinformation campaign alleging biological weapons development in Ukraine, which has led to fears that Russia itself may use chemical or biological weapons in …

Disarmament, Health and Population, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

What Now, António?

Thomas G. Weiss

• June 16, 2021

António Guterres soon will be recrowned Secretary-General after Manhattan’s five-member Electoral College, the permanent members of the Security Council, send its recommendation to the General Assembly for a ceremonial vote. In 2016, his election was an unusually transparent process — at least by United Nations standards — with contenders vetted by the General Assembly; …

SDGs, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Maurizio Guerrero

• April 15, 2021

Six Latin American names are being circulated in regional political circles as possible candidates to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, while the current secretary-general, António Guterres, will most likely be re-elected for the upcoming five-year term, starting in 2022. So women appear to be lining up to cast their names for …

Latin America, Secretary-General, Women

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Canada’s Top UN Diplomats Met With Arora Akanksha, the Self-Nominated Candidate for Secretary-General

Stéphanie Fillion

• March 18, 2021

Arora Akanksha, the United Nations millennial staffer who launched her own campaign to run for secretary-general last month, held meetings with three high-level Canadian officials this week in New York City, including Canada’s ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae. Akanksha is a Canadian citizen who was born in India. So far, her candidacy has …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council

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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, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN Must Select a Woman Secretary-General Now, Not Later

Simone Filippini

• February 23, 2021

António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, announced early last month that he would seek a second five-year term, starting in January 2022, as the organization’s highest official, “if it would be the will of the member states.” The respective presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council have since defined the “selection and appointment …

SDGs, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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‘He Is Who He Is’: 4 Experts Assess the Record of the UN’s António Guterres

Barbara Crossette

• December 14, 2020

Ever since the day in 1946 when the first secretary-general of the United Nations, Trygve Lie of Norway, took office, big powers have meddled in how the job is done. Most often, the United States has been the most intrusive. Lie resigned in 1953, before the end of his second, shortened term, with his …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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In Newark’s Portuguese Community, UN Secretary-General António Guterres Is Unknown

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 21, 2018

NEWARK, N.J. — In the Portuguese-speaking section of New Jersey’s most populous city, virtually no one, when asked, had heard of António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations and a one-time prime minister of Portugal. At a popular restaurant on Ferry Street, the main drag nicknamed Portugal Street, one person eating his platter …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

As the UN Chief Goes to Washington, He Reiterates Plight of Refugees

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 20, 2017

On International Refugee Day, António Guterres reiterated the plight of refugees and displaced people worldwide — a phenomenal 65.5 million people — in his first media briefing at United Nations headquarters in months. He let drop that he is traveling to Washington, D.C., from June 27-29 to lobby Congressional members on UN budget matters. …

Africa, Geopolitics, Middle East, Refugees, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

Can António Guterres Fend Off Trump’s War on the UN?

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 10, 2017

When António Guterres was chosen by the United Nations Security Council in October to become the next leader of the UN, neither he nor anyone else could have predicted precisely who would be commanding the Oval Office of the White House in January 2017, just as Guterres’s term opened. Now that Donald Trump has …

Geopolitics, Secretary-General, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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António Guterres, Sounding Priestlike, Arrives for Work as UN Secretary-General

Dulcie Leimbach

• January 3, 2017

He is no longer the “next SG,” as Twitter posts have been referring in the last few months to António Guterres, the man who was selected by the United Nations Security Council in October to lead the world body as the ninth secretary-general. Guterres, a 67-year-old former prime minister of Portugal who also managed …

Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Terrorism, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Dear Mr. Guterres: Please Be a Hammarskjoldian Secretary-General

Bruce W. Jentleson

• October 19, 2016

As much as this moment of unity among the United States, Russia and other Security Council members coming together on António Guterres as the next United Nations secretary-general is to be relished, it’s not just the who that matters. It’s the what of the job. Unless the big powers are willing to let Guterres …

WORLDVIEWS

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António Guterres, 67, Picked to Become the Next UN Secretary-General

Dulcie Leimbach

• October 5, 2016

António Guterres, a former Socialist prime minister of Portugal and until recently head of the United Nations refugee agency, has been selected by the Security Council to become the next secretary-general of the UN, starting a five-year term on Jan. 1. The decision is subject to two formal votes: one confirming acclamation in the …

Secretary-General

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BOOKS

Traits of an Outstanding Leader: A Primer for the Next UN Secretary-General

Joanne Myers

• October 1, 2016

At the end of this year, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will complete his 10-year tenure and the ninth secretary-general will take office on Jan. 1. Whether the new secretary-general will be male or female, most would agree that he or she be someone with strong moral courage and integrity; act as a voice …