United Nations
China’s Digital Silk Road and stopping divergent technology standards
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is best known for big infrastructure projects such as train lines and ports, but in this age of omnipresence online, there is a communications…
Atrocities of April
The month of April is littered with reminders of how cruel the world can be and should motivate us to be vigilant about the potential for atrocity crimes in our own time. 24 April…
US undermines UN Security Council resolution against wartime rape
Overnight, the UN Security Council held its annual Open Debate on Conflict Related Sexual Violence. As current president of the Council, Germany hosted the debate. It has been…
A slap in the face for diverse diplomacy
The US appointed its first openly gay ambassador in 1999. President Bill Clinton gave James Hormel a recess appointment as US Ambassador to Luxembourg after two years of a blocked…
Trump to take on Iran at UN Security Council table
As it happens, the United States holds the presidency of the United Nations Security Council during the annual diplomatic gabfest at the UN General Assembly.
Traditionally, that…
Kofi Annan: great expectations
It says much about the UN Secretary-General that the two men widely regarded as the greatest to hold the office went in with the lowest expectations.
Dag Hammarskjöld was an…
Kofi Annan: a leader with compassion
Those concerned with global peace and justice are grieving the death of Kofi Annan.
Annan was elected UN Secretary-General in 1996 after a vigorously contested election campaign…
Human Rights Council: reform rather than reject
The announcement the US was leaving the United Nations Human Rights Council did not come as a shock, especially after calls for an inquiry into clashes…
When Indonesia sits on the Security Council
Indonesia has successfully won its bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council 2019–20, but what is the country likely to achieve?
There…
Gender parity at the UN: promises to keep
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a…