US ambassador to UN

The Death of an Excellent Friend, William vanden Heuvel

• June 24, 2021

One of America’s greatest supporters of the United Nations, Ambassador William vanden Heuvel, died on June 15 in New York City at age 91. A son of European immigrants, vanden Heuvel grew up in the upstate city of Rochester, N.Y. He was a young man of enormous energy and idealism. He greatly admired Franklin …

UN Diplomats, US-UN Relations

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A Tale of Two US Ambassadors on Racism

Irwin Arieff

• April 26, 2021

Should the United States acknowledge and openly lament the fact that white supremacy played a significant role in the country’s founding? Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Joe Biden’s pick as the US ambassador to the United Nations, thinks so. So does Biden himself. Both have spoken openly of their conviction that racism was woven into the fabric …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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US Envoy-Designate to the UN Turns the Long-Awaited Spotlight on Africa

Barbara Crossette

• December 7, 2020

When President-elect Joe Biden nominated Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the next ambassador to the United Nations, he was signaling that American diplomacy would face big changes. If she is confirmed by the Senate in the new year, the UN will have a seasoned, top-rank diplomat in the United States’ Security Council seat, a break …

Africa, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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BOOKS

An Irish-American Idealist: Samantha Power

Lucia Mouat

• July 18, 2020

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

Will the Coronavirus Leave Joe and Kelly Craft Homeless? Maybe the Fed Can Help

Irwin Arieff

• May 15, 2020

A year ago, Kelly Craft was serving as Washington’s frequently absent ambassador to Canada, soon to be en route to the United Nations. Her spouse, the coal baron Joseph Craft III, was knee-deep in a Trump administration assault on federal rules aimed at safeguarding the environment, slowing climate change and protecting miners and other …

Covid-19, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Kelly Craft Clarifies Her Worldview: Trump’s Word Reigns Supreme

Irwin Arieff

• April 17, 2020

What a difference a few weeks can make. At the end of March, Kelly Craft, President Trump’s top ambassador at the United Nations, insisted that midbattle against a dread disease sweeping the globe was no time for an international blame game. Just two weeks later, there she was, jumping on Trump’s blame-game bandwagon. What …

Covid-19, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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US Ambassador Kelly Craft Resumes Campaign Donations with a Big Gift to Trump

Irwin Arieff

• February 26, 2020

Kelly Craft has taken a big step toward helping to ensure her political future, lavishing a campaign contribution of $360,600 on the re-election of her boss, President Donald Trump. The gift is the first that Craft, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, has dished out since joining the diplomatic corps as ambassador …

Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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BOOKS

A Most Influential Actor: The US Ambassador to the UN

Helmut Volger

• February 1, 2020

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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Where’s Kelly Knight Craft? She Is Neither in Ottawa Nor at the UN

Irwin Arieff

• August 26, 2019

Donald Trump must have known just what he was getting into when he named Kelly Knight Craft to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations. But does Knight Craft understand the humiliating position the president is putting her into? Knight Craft, the soft-spoken wife of a billionaire coal executive from Kentucky, demonstrates …

Secretary-General, Security Council

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Trump’s UN Pick Softens on Climate Change, but Not on Paris Accord

Irwin Arieff

• June 19, 2019

Kelly Knight Craft, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations, raised eyebrows in her June 19 Senate confirmation hearing by putting some space between her views on global climate change and those of the president. But Trump needn’t worry that she might end up threatening her boss’s …

Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Trump’s Not-So Secret Ill Will Toward the UN

Stephen Schlesinger

• March 21, 2019

More than six months ago, the American ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced that she was leaving her post. Following her decision, President Trump nominated Heather Nauert to be her successor. Then the administration tarried, never submitted Nauert’s name for Senate approval — and in February abruptly withdrew her nomination. It put …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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Kelly Knight Craft, Trump’s Pick for UN Envoy, Is Knee-Deep in Coal, So Is That a Problem?

Irwin Arieff

• March 12, 2019

It’s easy to figure out why Donald Trump picked Kelly Knight Craft to be his ambassador to the United Nations. She and her husband, Joseph Craft III, a billionaire coal baron, showered the president and his Republican Party with millions in campaign contributions in 2016. (A business consultant before she became a diplomat, she’s …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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

Dulcie Leimbach

• January 14, 2019

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

Now That She’s Gone: Nikki Haley’s Legacy at the UN

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• January 9, 2019

After two years as the American ambassador at the United Nations, Nikki Haley left the job in December 2018 as much an enigma as the day she arrived. Haley, a career politician, came to the UN with little foreign policy experience but national recognition for her handling of a domestic terror attack while governor …

Nikki Haley Watch, US-UN Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Will Trump’s Musical Chairs Leave Nikki Haley Without a Seat?

Irwin Arieff

• March 23, 2018

Nikki Haley insisted all along that she had no desire to become Donald Trump’s secretary of state. But with Mike Pompeo, the CIA director, in line to succeed Rex Tillerson as the State Department’s top dog, Haley may soon find that her thinking was a big mistake. Haley asked Trump right from the start …